We are determined to win the next election and rule without the ODM. A coalition government is the worst political system that any country could have. It is a very inefficient government, and it often leads to near paralysis, Mr Murungi said.
Things move very slowly in a coalition government . . . decision-making becomes a very complex affair. Nobody should dream of having a coalition government in Kenya ever again, he said.
In an interview with the Sunday Nation, the minister cited the controversial issue of the Leader of Government Business in Parliament, a position now held temporarily by the Speaker, saying it had become very difficult for the Executive to decide who should hold the position.
For efficient management of the country, there is need for decisive leadership which will make major decisions for the rapid social economic growth. Such leadership can only be provided by a strong party winning the elections with overwhelming victory, the minister said.
The stalemate
In addition to the stalemate in Parliament, seven key diplomatic missions are vacant because of a power struggle between the PNU and ODM. Posts in Uganda, Japan, Israel and South Korea have been vacant since the ambassadors were recalled last year.
ODM chief Raila Odinga is said to be pushing for an equal share of government postings for his party to reflect balanced power-sharing, accusing President Kibaki of making unilateral appointments.
But PNU accuses ODM of making unrealistic demands over major government decisions on appointments and policy issues as outlined in the National Peace Accord.
Reflecting on the 2007 elections debacle, Mr Murungi said that President Kibakis last-minute decision to defend his seat on a PNU ticket and disorganisation in the partys campaign machinery cost him a clear victory in the polls.
The minister said the President and his troops were over-confident that he would win a second term with an overwhelming majority despite a spirited campaign by the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).
Mr Murungi said that while PNU was struggling to make an impression at the grassroots, ODM, whose presidential candidate was Mr Odinga and who is now Prime Minister, had long before established itself as a formidable political machine in most parts of the country.
The greatest mistake President Kibakis side made, he said, was for him to form PNU three months to elections when ODM was already an established mass movement.
As we went to the 2007 elections, we were a bit disorganised. We formed the party in the eleventh hour, he said during the interview in his office.
We learnt a major lesson: not to take chances but to start organising early. That is why we have decided to start organising ourselves early. We are not taking any chances this time.
The minister said PNU could have fared better if parliamentary candidates had campaigned as a unit.
We would have done better if we were one party campaigning on a common agenda. But we went to fight as different parties and split our votes. We lost in areas like Embakasi, where we could have had straight victory. We want to avoid repeating such a situation in future, he said.
Strategy meetings
Mr Murungi says PNU would continue to hold strategy meetings similar to the June 12-13 retreat planned for Naivasha.
The minister said PNU would strengthen its structure and fighting capacity with the aim of achieving a clear victory in the next General Election.
The two leading candidates, President Kibaki and Mr Odinga, each claimed victory, leading to unprecedented violence which left more than 1,300 people dead and thousands displaced.
A peace deal brokered by former United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan led to the creation of the coalition government.
A panel of eminent persons led by Mr Annan appointed retired South African Justice Johann Kriegler who recommended dissolving the Electoral Commission, accusing it of bungling the elections.
Justice Kriegler said in his report that it was difficult to determine who between President Kibaki and Mr Odinga won the elections.
A lot has changed in the two parties since the elections, and internal dissent has taken a toll on both sides.
In PNU, affiliate parties such as Narc Kenya and Ford Kenya have announced that they will field their own presidential candidates in 2012 while ODM has been fighting to ward off a group of Rift Valley MPs threatening to abandon the party.
ODM has had some strong showing in by-elections in the area. There is also the issue of forming an official opposition in Parliament, a move that has been complicated by new standing orders that spell out tough conditions for the recognition of an official opposition, among them written consent of the party leader.