The rub will come when a decision has to be made about what actually to do. Both Mr. Kibaki and Mr. Odinga claim to have won the election fairly.

Kofi Annan, the former United Nations secretary general, is mediating the talks and searching for a compromise. That could include a power-sharing arrangement between the government and the opposition, a transitional government to serve until a new election is held, or a comprehensive audit of the election results with both sides agreeing to accept the winner.

The United Nations is also pushing for a South Africa-style truth and reconciliation commission to investigate the explosion of violence that has convulsed Kenya, which until recently was viewed as one of the most stable and promising countries on the African continent.

On Tuesday, Mr. Annan met with Kenya’s top business leaders, who pleaded with him to speed up the negotiations because the country’s economy had been brought to its knees. Kenya’s billion-dollar-a-year tourism industry has suffered immensely, with game parks and beach hotels deserted.

Agriculture has also suffered because the insecurity in the Rift Valley has blocked the flow of produce and commodities like tea and coffee.

At the end of trading on Monday, the stock market was down roughly 25 percent from where it was at the time of the election. Business leaders estimate that the economy has already lost several billion dollars and is on track to lose several billion more.

The troubled spots in the country continue to be volatile. In Kericho, an abundantly fertile tea-growing area in the Rift Valley, fighting raged Tuesday between members of the Kisii and Kalenjin ethnic groups. Mobs of young men from each side have been squaring off on the hillsides, hurling rocks and shooting arrows at one another. Residents said dozens of people were killed in the past week and hundreds of homes were burned, resulting in a new wave of displacements.