The Democratic Party of Kenya (DP) became the second party on Saturday to reject plans by PNU to have affiliate parties sponsor candidates jointly in the June 11 by-elections across the country.

A DP official said on Saturday the party will field its own candidates, signifying a split among PNU affiliate parties on plans announced last week by the party headquarters ahead of the by-elections.

The parliamentary by-elections will be held in Embakasi, Wajir North, Kilgoris, Ainamoi and Emuhaya. Also up for grabs in the by-elections are 52 civic seats.

Mr Jacob Haji, the organising secretary, said that DP was not party to PNU's agreement to sponsor joint candidates in the vacant seats.

"Let no one cheat Kenyans. We have never sat down to agree on anything about the forthcoming by-elections. DP has agreed as a party that it will field candidates in all the vacant seats," he said.

"We have already made a decision. If PNU wants to take part in the exercise, it is a registered political party just like DP and let us meet at the ballot," he added.

DP is among a number of political parties that forged a common front to support President Kibaki's re-election in the last polls.

Under the deal, the affiliate parties were also to field parliamentary and civic candidates jointly.

But Mr Haji argued that the deal was only meant to last until the 2007 elections.

"2007 was different. The agenda of PNU was to act as a vehicle for one person and the vehicle already arrived where it was headed to. This time, we shall meet in the field as parties and let Kenyans choose," he said.

Last week, PNU Secretary General Mr Albert Kamau said a decision had been reached on joint candidates and that a by-election steering committee had been formed to pick and campaign for the best candidate in each of the constituencies.

"PNU has formed an inter-parties by-elections committee to plan and coordinate the party's campaigns for the five parliamentary and 52 civic seats," said Mr Kamau.

Narc Kenya was the first political party under the PNU umbrella to announce that it will be fielding its own candidates in the by-elections.

The party's organising secretary Mr Danson Mungatana while on a visit to Emuhaya, one of the vacant parliamentary seats, last week told President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to keep off the by-elections.

Kanu, another of the PNU affiliate parties, has, however, scoffed at the position taken by Narc Kenya and DP, saying it may scuttle PNU's chances of capturing the vacant seats.