Mohloai Mpesi
PRIME Minister Sam Matekane had taken a brave decision to slash Lesotho’s bloated cabinet from about 30 ministers to only 15 to save resources wasted on bankrolling a high wage bill for productive purposes
But his quest for political survival has inevitably forced him to go back on his word.
To neutralize the no confidence vote and bolster his frail three party coalition government, the Prime Minister on Tuesday successfully wooed, into his corner, four more political parties who will now be part of an expanded government
Ruling Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) spokesperson, Mokhethi Shelile, said the new coalition partners would be compensated with government ministries, meaning Mr Matekane would have to expand his cabinet from the 15 ministers who have been in office for a year now.
The new coalition government comprising seven political parties was unveiled on Tuesday this week in Maseru, with Mr Matekane saying the new alliance was influenced by a desire to retain peace, stability, unity, and continuation of national reforms.
While Mr Matekane’s government initially comprised three parties namely his Revolution for Prosperity (RFP), the Alliance of Democrats (AD) and the Movement for Economic Change (MEC), incorporated into the coalition now are Prof Nqosa Mahao’s Basotho Action Party (BAP), Mothetjoa Metsing’s Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD), ‘Machabana Lemphane-Letsie’s HOPE-Mphatlalatsane and the Lesotho People’s Congress (LPC)-Baena Alliance.
The seven party coalition now commands 67 seats, assuming Mr Matekane holds all the remaining RFP MPs.
But the additional partners in the renewed coalition will represent additional expenses to the fiscus.
Mr Matekane had during his inauguration last year strongly spoken against Lesotho’s blated cabinets.
While Mr Shelile would not be drawn into the finer details of the new coalition agreement, he said that options were being explored, including laying off some RFP ministers and filling their vacancies with members from the new parties, or expanding the cabinet to accommodate all partners’ interests.
Mr Shelile said their lawyers were still drafting the final coalition agreement, which would also detail the new configuration of ministries.
The Lesotho Times has been informed that the cabinet might be expanded to twenty ministers or more with four deputy ministers
Speaking at a media briefing flanked by Prof Mahao, Mr Mothetjoa Metsing, Prof Ntoi Rapapa and Mr Mochoboroane among others, Mr Matekane played down the recent political events in the country, saying having been in office for exactly a year now, it was time for the government to reflect on the past twelve months and make changes going forward.
Asked whether the cabinet will increase given the incorporation of four more parties into the coalition, Mr Matekane simply said: “Like I indicated, we are still evaluating our issues. We are unable to confirm or deny that the cabinet will increase. We have completed a year in government since we started our operations last year on the 28th of October. It is time to look back, reflect and decide on what should be done going forward. And we are going to do that.”
In an indirect reference to the no confidence motion, the premier said recent political developments in the country had propelled him to make additions to his coalition government.
Three parties namely LCD, HOPE and LPC have always been supportive of Mr Matekane’s government, voting in his favour in parliament.
The LPC had briefly turned its back against the government, joining the opposition in the no confidence motion.
However, that did not last long as last week, Mr Masiu summersaulted, writing a letter to Speaker of National Assembly, Tlohang Sekhamane, notifying him of his decision to dump the opposition, thus withdrawing his name from the list of MPs supporting the motion.
“As RFP, MEC, AD, and others who are supporting the government in the National Assembly, we have decided to reform the coalition government and for that reason, our coalition government will be formed by the following political parties; RFP, MEC, AD, BAP, LCD, HOPE and LPC,” Mr Matekane said.
He added that their alliance would continue to enjoy strong support from their friends in the National Assembly such as the United for Chance (UFC) and others.
“Our lawyers are currently working on the changes brought by this agreement,” Mr Matekane said.
“It is only if we unite, work together and put the nation’s interests first, that we will get whatever we want. We are convinced that with these new changes we will achieve what we want. The nation entrusts us as leaders to improve the country. It would be unfortunate if the reforms agenda would fail under our watch. Therefore, as the new alliance we pledge to execute the reforms agenda. We put away selfishness and work towards improving the economy.”
He promised the new coalition would ensure efficient service delivery.
“We vow to work on the reforms once the case in the appeal court is completed. We speak with one voice as leaders, that before next year’s budget speech, we would have passed a large portion of reforms,” Mr Matekane said, adding that Lesotho had become a laughing stock to fellow SADC countries because of the persistent squabbling of its politicians.
“We are always under SADC ‘s guardianship, our development partners are worried and concerned about instability in Lesotho. Enough is enough,” he said.
Prof Mahao explained why his BAP had experienced a sudden change of heart from being a staunch advocate for Mr Matekane’s ouster to now joining his coalition.
“I have a document here with me. We asked our experts to draw a scenario mapping whether we should remain in the opposition or join the government. So, this document counselled us and based on its guidance, we decided to join the government. That’s the benefits of being a BAP member, we don’t use emotions or hatred, we use our technical knowledge that helps us point out what’s important for Lesotho.” .”
Professor Mahao said that he and Mr Mokhothu, whom he had been supporting to replace Mr Matekane, were still friends.
“Mr Mokhothu is my friend, yesterday, today and tomorrow. There is no bad blood between us. I can assure you that we accepted this RFP proposal after conducting an extensive study,” Prof Mahao said.
Meanwhile, Mr Shelile who is both the RFP spokesperson and Minister of Trade, Industry, Business Development and Tourism, told the Lesotho Times yesterday, that it was possible that some RFP ministers would be sacrificed and get relieved of their ministerial duties “to become ordinary MPs”. That matter was still being discussed.
“We don’t have enough information on the matter of expanding or maintaining the current cabinet. This is because the finer details of the arrangements in the matter are still being prepared,” Mr Shelile said.
“Yes, they (leaders of new coalition parties) will get certain ministries, but whether some of us will have to leave our ministries and become ordinary Members of Parliament, we will see that after the arrangement has been completed.”
