Kenyan push for constitution deal

President Mwai Kibaki has urged his cabinet to work together

Kenya's president is holding talks with his ruling coalition to try to strike a deal on a draft constitution.

The draft - which would reduce the president's powers and create an executive prime minister - has divided the National Rainbow Coalition.

The meeting is an attempt to rally support for two bills that would give parliament powers to amend the draft. The bills will be debated on Tuesday.

Many coalition members want the draft passed without alteration.

At a constitutional conference, most of the 629 delegates - including three cabinet ministers - voted to trim presidential powers against the government's wishes, proposing the creation of a prime minister's post after the next elections in 2007.

The draft was set to be presented before parliament for adoption.

But the next step in the constitution-making process is now unclear as the High Court ruled that the draft report should be approved by a referendum and not parliament.

The court ruled that the constitutional conference debating the issue was not representative of all Kenyans.

Last week Mr Kibaki called for more tolerance over the issue and reiterated that the government will deliver a new constitution by June this year.

He ordered ministers in his fractious cabinet to stop making inflammatory statements in public and work together.

The BBC's Gray Phombeah says that the latest rift has now cast fresh doubts over whether the coalition will survive its current political crisis.