Kennett says the League has that right, given Melbourne board's history of failure and the fact the Demons on Friday put in a request to the AFL for reportedly almost $3 million of extra funding to help them restructure the club.
Kennett said that effectively put the club under AFL administration and with Demons president Don McLardy having stepped down, replaced on an interim basis by Peter Spargo, the work of repairing the club needed to begin immediately.
The McLardy timeline
He said recently-appointed chief executive Peter Jackson, who is leading the restructure, couldn't do so alone.
"I think the AFL have an opportunity now given they are the liquidators, they own the business, they have put in the CEO. They are the ones being requested to refinance Melbourne to some degree," Kennett told Melbourne's Triple M radio on Saturday.
"The AFL have said in the past `We're not going to continue to hand out money to clubs that can not manage themselves, there has to be an act of responsibility.'
"That being the case, that time is now."
Kennett said under the Demons' constitution, it would be "messy" to try to force an early board election without AFL intervention.
He said if an election wasn't held until the club's post-season annual general meeting, valuable time would have been wasted and the supporters backing him might no longer be interested.
"If the AFL want this to continue month by month then I'm afraid I don't think it interests our people very much at all," he said.
"Their interest is there now, my interest is there now."
McLardy last week said Kennett was not suitable for the job as he remained a passionate Hawthorn fan who has called in the past for the Demons to merge or relocate.
Kennett said he couldn't take back those comments and "no one's perfect".
But he said his record as Hawthorn president, in politics and with mental health foundation Beyond Blue showed he could deliver results.
"If there's someone better out there you better find them quickly because otherwise, forget Kennett, otherwise it will be the Melbourne Football Club that absolutely has no future," he said.
