Fury over possible Kenya poll delay

President Moi is vague on how and when he will hand over power

By Andrew Harding BBC East Africa correspondent

Kenya's political opposition has reacted furiously to a proposal by the country's ruling party to extend the term of President Daniel arap Moi and the current parliament by up a year.

Opposition leaders threatened to call for mass protests if the government party tried to push through the change.

This is the latest twist in an increasingly tortuous and heated political process.

Kenya is currently trying to change its constitution, but it is running out of time before parliamentary and presidential elections, pencilled in for the end of this year.

The ruling Kanu party has repeatedly suggested that it might be better to postpone the elections and sort the constitution out first.

Now, according to a statement it has officially proposed a change in the law which would allow elections to take place in December 2003.

Anger

But opposition MPs are furious.

Political horsetrading has increased as polls draw near

The National Alliance for Change said it would mobilise mass action if the proposal were not withdrawn straight away.

It spoke of 24 years of misrule under President Moi and said the ruling party's mandate had come to an end.

President Moi has insisted he will step down at the end of his term, but he has proved reluctant to get dragged into the heated political debate about exactly how and when.

Previous elections in Kenya have been marred by violence and the international community, already critical of the government's failure to tackle corruption and reform the struggling economy will be watching closely for any signs of political instability.