- vows not to stand for re-election in Machache in 2022 but groom successor to take over the seat.
‘Marafaele Mohloboli
FORMER Deputy Prime Minister Monyane Moleleki says he is done with politics.
Mr Moleleki, who leads the opposition Alliance of Democrats (AD), said he will not seek re-election in his Machache constituency in next year’s elections but would seek to return to parliament as a non-constituency legislator. That would be his last tenure in parliament and thereafter he will pass the baton to younger politicians, he told the Lesotho Times this week.
Mr Moleleki’s pledge to quit politics is not new. Back in 2017, he told this publication that his decision not to stand in future elections was premised on his belief that leaders should not cling to positions for life but make way for others.
“It is a disgrace that people are still saying one person should be a leader for 40 years. We need to foster a culture of passing the leadership baton,” Mr Moleleki said at the time.
“The six times that I have been elected in Machache mark the end of my time as a candidate in that constituency and at the next election, whether it comes tomorrow or in the year 202. I will not be standing as a candidate for Machache constituency. When there was a need for me to stand for constituency elections, I did and now it is time to give another person an opportunity to stand.”
The IEC has said the next general elections would be held around September 2022.
“I have decided to give an opportunity to someone else to throw their hat into the ring and contest. This shall be someone chosen by the party with my full backing to ensure that the AD doesn’t lose Machache to another party.
“There is no going back on my decision. No one and nothing can make me change my stance. The 11th parliament which will be inaugurated after the next elections is definitely the last that I will serve in.
“I have long said that I won’t be contesting in the next elections. I intend to get into parliament for the last time as a proportional representation MP. I’m sure that I will be on top of the list of my party to be a proportional representation MP.
“Once I’m in parliament through PR and I feel my party is stable, I will step down completely from politics. This is not because I am old but simply because that is what I’ve decided. Not even my party can talk me out of this because I’ve made up my mind.”
Born on 5 January 1951, the 70-year-old Mr Moleleki is a veteran of Lesotho’s political landscape. He was Democratic Congress (DC) deputy leader until he famously fell-out with then party leader and Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili in 2016.
Mr Moleleki went on to form the AD in December 2016 along with members of a DC faction that had supported his ultimately unsuccessful bid to take over from Mr Mosisili.
He won his party’s only elected seat in the 3 June 2017 elections and was appointed deputy prime minister in the Thomas Thabane-led coalition which lasted from June 2017 to May 2020 when it was replaced by the current Moeketsi Majoro-led coalition.
Before the formation of the DC in 2012, Mr Moleleki had served in various ministerial positions including Minister of Natural Resources in the Basutoland Congress Party (BCP) and the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) starting in 1996.
The AD leader said before leaving he wanted to groom his successor “to avoid a situation where they grope in the dark like I did”.
“I’m happy that so far four party members have shown interest in replacing me in the constituency. But whoever gets to replace me as leader won’t be cherry picked. They will have to be elected by the party.
“I have timeously made this announcement of my impending departure so that people who wanted to replace me will have enough time to be groomed and prepared for the future role before they are weaned.
“I promise to support whoever replaces me. I will be guiding that person to enable them to serve better than I did because I was groping in the dark without anyone to guide me. I will support whoever will succeed me because there is no way I will allow the party that I established to be divided,” he said.
He however, refused to reveal the names of the four who are angling to succeed him in the Machache constituency.
