The opening of a fourth session of the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) will be delayed further as Kenya begins fresh nominations of its representatives.

The process has already ignited a supremacy battle between the ruling Jubilee Party and the opposition.

Eala is now five months behind its calendar, having been scheduled to begin the fourth session on June 5.

Kenya’s opposition and ruling party are already preparing for a duel over the membership of parliamentary committees and parliament has gone on a three-week recess occasioned by the standoff.

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Parliament placed an advertisement in Kenyan newspapers on Thursday last week, asking political parties to nominate their Eala candidates for interviews and vetting by parliament before their names are forwarded to Arusha.

But Jubilee Party and Nasa are fighting over sharing of the nine slots allocated to Kenya.

Article 50 of the EAC Treaty requires that partner states send nominees who represent the various political parties in the National Assembly, shades of opinion, gender and other special interest groups in that partner state.

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The de facto leader of opposition in the National Assembly John Mbadi had earlier told The EastAfrican that most activities going on in parliament are illegal and could be challenged in court in future because they are not tabled on the floor of the House as required by standing orders.

Nasa MP Junet Mohamed says that it will not relent in its demand for four slots after the Jubilee Party said the nomination of the regional MPs will be guided by the strength of political parties in the current parliament.

Eala activities have also been affected by a similar dispute in South Sudan, whose nominees have been challenged at the East African Court of Justice.

The suit filed in June noted that President Salva Kiir did not adhere to the EAC Treaty in nominating only his allies.

If no deal is struck between the Jubilee and Nasa, the battle is likely to head to the Arusha-based court, which could delay further opening of the regional assembly.

It was understood that Jubilee Party prefers starting the process afresh so that it capitalises on its numeral strength to get six seats, to reward some of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s allies who played a key role in the run-up to the repeat presidential election on October 26.