MASERU — The Christian Council of Lesotho (CCL) report tabled before a Sadc summit in Windhoek, Namibia, is set to be modified, the Lesotho Times has learnt.
The report on the proportional representation seats saga will be reviewed with some changes being effected on the report before it is sent to Sadc in the next two weeks.
The decision to review the report was reached at a meeting attended by ruling party and opposition members at the State Library in Maseru.
An opposition representative who was part of the meeting said the agreement will see the report being amended by adding recommendations made in the July 2009 Masire Report.
Sir Ketumile Masire is the Sadc envoy who was tasked with mediating in the PR dispute.
Masire however quit in July last year after accusing the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) government of “being unco-operative”.
In his report Masire said some of the compensatory seats were wrongly allocated to the LCD and the National Independence Party (NIP).
The two parties had struck an electoral pact prior to the 2007 elections. The report also condemned the All Basotho Convention party and Lesotho Workers Party alliance.
Masire said alliances distorted and violated the Mixed Member Proportion (MMP) electoral model.
The opposition member told the Lesotho Times yesterday that the amended report will incorporate the opinion of independent lawyers contracted by the CCL.
The CCL contracted the lawyers to give legal opinion on the Marematlou Freedom Party (MFP) case judgment because the government and the opposition “had different interpretations of the case”.
The opposition was also adamant that Justice Semapo Peete, who presided over the Marematlou case, decided not to make a ruling on the merits and as such “the substantial issues raised by MFP remain unresolved”.
The government also insisted Justice Peete’s ruling brought the matter to finality.
The CCL’s legal experts’ report said Justice Peete did not make a ruling on the merits of the case.
When contacted for comment last night, CCL chairman Bishop Phillip Mokuku would not be drawn into giving details on yesterday’s meeting.
“There were amendments proposed in today’s meeting but I cannot go into details. It’s still a bit premature to reveal all the details,” Mokuku said.
“All I can say is that those proposed amendments are being worked on as we speak. We hope to release them tomorrow.”
