Since Kenya's independence in 1963, the Kenya Alliance for National Unity, or KANU, has been the ruling party. Although the country's first multiparty elections in 26 years were held in 1992, international observers said they were flawed and that Kenya's constitution skewed the electoral playing field. The ruling party or its appointees determine which political parties can legally exist, where and how they can campaign, and when elections are held. Kenyans rallying for constitutional reform in 1997 met with violence.