Violence erupts in Kenya over new election law

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Kenyan police have fired tear gas at opposition protesters a day after their leader Raila Odinga announced his withdrawal from the presidential race, saying he does not expect to be free and fair. His supporters are unhappy at a new election law and fear it could lead to a walkover victory for incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta, in the rerun of the election later this month.

Election officials have been locked in crisis meetings since Odinga's decision, as debate rages over what his move could mean for an election after President Uhuru Kenyatta's August 8 victory was annulled by the Supreme Court. Protests have been taking place almost daily since the decision in a country that still has grim memories of post-election violence when a disputed 2007 poll prompted politically motivated tribal clashes that left some 1,100 dead.

There is widespread anger, however, after parliament on Wednesday passed the new law, which says if one candidate withdraws, the other automatically wins the presidency. The law was one of the several changes approved by parliament - dominated by Kenyatta's ruling Jubilee party - on Wednesday that Odinga says will make the "irregularities" cited by the Supreme Court legal. Announcing his withdrawal on Tuesday, Odinga said, "All indications are that the election scheduled for 26 October will be worse than the previous one."

Kenyatta, for his part, insists that the election rerun must go ahead.

Demand for deep reforms

Odinga has demanded deep reforms that the election commission (IEBC) says are impossible to deliver in the constitutionally mandated period. He says his withdrawal legally forces election officials to begin the entire process from scratch - a move that leaves more time for his reform demands to be met.

To maintain pressure, his opposition National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition called supporters to the street, saying protests would take place every day from next week. In Odinga's western stronghold of Kisumu, thousands of protesters took to the street, blocking roads, setting heaps of tyres alight and engaging in running battles with police.