Kenyan Opposition Rejects Vote Results : Democracy: Amid charges of fraud in historic election, three leaders unite against winner Moi to demand a new poll.

The three main opposition leaders in Kenya, accusing the government of vote-rigging, banded together Friday to reject the results of the country’s first multi-party elections since independence and to demand a new poll.

President Daniel Arap Moi, who won the eight-candidate presidential election with 37% of the vote, flatly refused to call a new election, raising fears of a resurgence of political violence that has claimed 800 lives in the past year.

Moi’s three major opponents, who together outpolled the president by a margin of nearly 2-to-1, said they would take steps “to prevent Moi from assuming office as a result of these fraudulent elections.” But they declined to say specifically whether they would refuse to take their seats in Kenya’s Parliament.

“We are not going to recognize elections that are so rigged they are considered worthless,” said Kenneth Matiba, with the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy-Asili (FORD-Asili), who received 26% of the presidential vote.

“Democracy is now with us,” said Matiba, who launched the drive for a multi-party election two years ago. “And we are not ready to surrender it under any circumstances. If we don’t do this (reject the results), the people of Kenya will be in the streets.”

The announcement was a direct challenge to Moi, who has been accused by Western governments of human rights abuses and corruption during his 14-year rule.

The opposition forces, who split into three parties last year, stood united Friday in their refusal to accept the results. They urged Kenyans to remain peaceful but warned darkly of “an imminent crisis in the country” if the election results are allowed to stand.

Moi’s opponents accused the president of “yet another blatant attempt to hijack democracy and deny Kenyans their right to freely exercise their freedom of choice.”

In turn, Moi accused his opponents of trying to stir up trouble in the country. “Kenyans have made their democratic choice,” he said. “For the sake of Kenya and for the sake of all of us, we must put the feelings of the past few months behind us.”

Later, in an interview with British television reporters, he said his opponents were trying to stir up trouble.

“If they wanted a multi-party system, they should have been the first to accept this result,” he said.

Although the elections were peaceful, the country was tense. Late Thursday, four people were killed in fresh ethnic fighting in the Rift Valley, Moi’s provincial power base. The four were members of the Kikuyu ethnic group that has led the government’s opposition.

Moi had reluctantly agreed to introduce multi-party democracy only after Western aid donors suspended $350 million in aid to the country. And Friday, he pleaded with foreign governments, including “our friends in the West,” to “recognize our achievement.”

The united opposition’s announcement followed an election replete with irregularities, including vote-buying, ballot-box stuffing and voter intimidation. The voting was preceded by a campaign that foreign observers said was “systematically manipulated” by Moi’s ruling party.

Moi’s opponents cited numerous problems with the election and vote-counting. For example, hundreds of polling stations opened hours late Tuesday.

Independent observers of the election have sharply criticized the process, but they have stopped short of recommending new elections. The Independent Republican Institute, an observer mission funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, cited numerous irregularities in the campaign and the voting but said it was up to Kenyans to decide whether the elections were free and fair.

With 161 of the 188 parliamentary districts reporting results Friday, Moi’s KANU party appeared certain to hold onto at least a simple majority in Parliament. But the three opposition parties--FORD-Asili, FORD-Kenya and the Democratic Party--won dozens of seats, including those held by 15 of Moi’s Cabinet ministers. And the opponents’ combined vote total exceeded that of the ruling party.

Those victories would give government opponents their first significant say in Parliament, which Moi has single-handedly controlled, and would likely prevent Moi from getting the two-thirds vote he needs in Parliament to make constitutional changes.

Opposition leaders said they would meet soon to consider what steps they would take against the elections. One option would be to refuse to take up their seats in Parliament, possibly denying that body the quorum it needs to conduct business.

“Kenyans want the elections repeated,” said Democratic Party leader Mwai Kibaki, who ended up with 20% of the presidential vote. “We don’t want to stay without a government, but we don’t want a fraudulent government, either.”

Oginga Odinga of the FORD-Kenya party also joined in the statement.