- …says it will proceed with no confidence motion against his new coalition
- …as SADC arrives to try and quell renewed instability
- …while RFP bids to stop Mokhothu from becoming premier
Mathatisi Sebusi & Mohloai Mpesi
OPPOSITION parties have vowed to pursue their quest to oust Prime Minister Sam Matekane despite his unveiling of a new coalition that has boosted his numbers in the National Assembly.
The opposition believes there remains a significant number of RFP MPs, disgruntled at how the party is being run, who will lend their votes to the opposition in support of a no confidence motion.
Official Leader of Opposition in Parliament and Democratic Congress (DC) leader, Mathibeli Mokhothu, told the Lesotho Times last night, that the new coalition government unveiled by the Prime Minister on Tuesday evening had only strengthened their resolve to pursue their no confidence motion against him.
Mr Matekane unveiled a new coalition agreement that expands his coalition from three parties to seven. The original coalition formed after the 7 October 2022 general elections comprised of his Revolution for Prosperity (RFP), the Alliance of Democrats (AD) of Education and Training Minister Ntoi Rapapa and the Movement for Economic Change of Health Minister Selibe Mochoboroane.
The new coalition announced this week adds four more parties; the Basotho Action Party (BAP) of Professor Nqosa Mahao, Mothetjoa Metsing’s Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD), Machabana Lemphane-Letsie’s HOPE-Mphatlalatsane party and the Lesotho People’s Congress (LPC)-Baena Alliance of Reverend Paul Masiu.
All these parties, except the BAP, had been supporting Mr Matekane’s coalition though they were not part of his actual coalition agreement with the two others. They have now been integrated into the actual coalition and are now poised to get ministerial posts in an expanded cabinet.
The inclusion of Professor Mahao’s BAP has particularly stunned all and sundry. The BAP leader had been one of the most vocal critics of Mr Matekane’s coalition. He had partly led efforts to oust the PM.
But Prof Mahao has become the true testament to the proverbial adage that “a week is a long time in politics”. Only last week, he told the Lesotho Times, in an unpublished interview, that the BAP had turned down an offer by Mr Matekane to join his coalition.
“Matekane proposed whether we could join them in government and I said I would have to put it before our central executive committee….
“ Their opinion (BAP central executive committee) was that we are part of the opposition coalition and the government only approaches us a year later only because they are in trouble.
“The question was why did they not approach us all along. Why did they turn us down when they were forming government last year. We were not convinced that RFP is motivated by genuine intentions, and they (BAP executive committee) decided that we are not going to accept the offer.”
We had not published the interview in which Prof Mahao made these remarks because of space constraints. We had planned to publish it in full in this edition. It has nonetheless been overtaken by events.
Prof Mahao had said in the interview that the opposition was determined to oust Mr Matekane’s coalition because it had failed to fulfil its promises at inauguration last year.
But in an unexpected turn of events, Prof Mahao told a press briefing that the BAP had decided to join the government after some research indicated its members wanted it to be in government. He did not explain if the research had been done and completed so quickly in between the short period of his differing positions from last week to this week.
Mr Matekane had appeared to be on the ropes after the opposition – including Prof Mahao, had on 16 October 2023 assembled and paraded 61 MPs ready to oust him on that day. They wanted him replaced by Mr Mokhothu. The vote of no confidence, filed by Basotho National Party (BNP) leader Machesetsa Mofomobe, was however delayed by a court challenge lodged by RFP MP Lejone Puseletso. He asked the Constitutional Court to delay it until the completion of the national reforms process.
The court is now set to pass judgment on 10 November 2023. The opposition believes Mr Puseletso’s case is weak as courts cannot infringe on the separation of powers doctrine and stop parliament from doing its work.
The opposition plans to press ahead with the no confidence motion soon after the judgment.
The delay created by the court case appears to have given Mr Matekane time to reorganise and woo more support for his side. He seems to have succeeded after wooing the BAP’s six seats. He boasted this week that his new coalition now commands 67 seats in parliament.
But Mr Mokhothu believes the Prime Minister is “deluding” himself.
He is adamant that the no confidence vote will succeed. He says the new coalition’s touted number of 67seats should be tested in the National Assembly to prove it is real.
He said the government should simply allow the no-confidence vote to proceed if it was confident of its numbers instead of trying to scuttle it through “frivolous” court cases.
“That is the only way we will be able to test each side’s numbers and determine whether theirs are solid or not…,” Mr Mokhothu said of the need to let the motion proceed in the House.
“I don’t want to comment on the character of the new coalition government, suffice to say let’s us test the numbers in the National Assembly. That is the only way we will know where each side stands.”
The opposition coalition in parliament believes it can still oust Mr Matekane on the strength of many of suspected rebellious MPs in the RFP said to number as many as 16. Three of them Mahali Phamotse, Thuso Makhalanyane and Kobeli Letlailana, had already been expelled from the party for indiscipline. They are now siding with the opposition.
Mr Matekane’s new coalition government means he has to walk back on his pre-election promise to keep a lean cabinet. He had kept his promise by appointing only 15 ministers. For political expediency, he will now have to expand this significantly to accommodate his new coalition partners.
Messrs Mokhothu and Matekane had also sought SADC’s intervention in the latest crisis in Lesotho in their capacities as opposition leader and premier respectively.
They wrote to Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema in his capacity as chairperson of SADC’s Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation (OPDSC) arguing their respective cases. Mr Mokhothu had in his letter of 23 October 2023 warned that a coup detat was underway because of threats by three security chiefs to stop parliament from ousting Mr Matekane. The Prime Minister had on the other hand sought the regional body’s protection to remain in office, arguing that the opposition’s no confidence motion was motivated by hunger for power at the expense of national interests.
Mr Hichilema is touching down in Maseru today. The SADC Panel of Elders led by its chairperson, Jakaya Kikwete, the former Tanzanian president, is already in the country, on yet another mission to help Lesotho save itself.
SADC had since responded to Mr Mokhothu’s letter. Its acting Executive Secretary, Angéle Makombo N’Tumba said since the regional body’s representative would be coming to Lesotho, he should take advantage of that visit to ventilate his concerns.
Ms N’Tumba wrote: “…..You will recall that SADC remains seized with the efforts at finding lasting solutions to the political and security challenges facing the Kingdom of Lesotho.
“Given the progress and some challenges met concerning the finalisation of the comprehensive reforms in Lesotho, the summit of SADC Heads of State and Government, in Luanda, Republic of Angola, in August 2023, resolved that the Chairperson of the Organ, H.E. Mr Hakainde Hichilema, President of the Republic of Zambia, will undertake a visit to the Kingdom of Lesotho.
“The Panel of Elders will support the President in consultation with the former SADC Facilitator to engage the opposition political parties and the government concerning the need for progress with the segregated reforms Bill.
“I therefore humbly advise that the working visit of the Chairperson of the Organ and of the Panel of Elder which will take place in the next few days, is an opportunity for you to raise your concerns in the context of the broader SADC initiatives to bring finality to the reforms process.”
Adv Lekhetho Rakuoane, who leads the Popular Front for Democracy (PFD), which is part of the coalition bidding to oust Mr Matekane, told the Lesotho Times last night, that while he was happy for the newly formed government, he doubted it would survive for long.
“It is a known fact that rebels fighting for ministerial positions come from RFP and the party has even disowned others who were reported to be fighting for power,” Adv Rakuoane said.
“Now look at the irony of the situation, the same party which disowned its members because they wanted ministerial positions is now adding ministries so that it can compensate or buy numbers with those positions.
“This will inevitably backfire. Its rebellious MPs will now want to know why they are being denied ministerial positions while they are being created for others from different parties. They are sitting on a crisis.”
Adv Rakuoane said the opposition had made peace with the fact that they had been defeated “at this juncture at least”. He however insisted the no confidence motion must be debated and possibly voted upon.
“It is not all about overthrowing the government but holding it accountable,” he said.
Advocate Rakuoane said now that the government had secured the numbers, “at least for now”, they should “stop fighting the opposition and drop court cases and focus on normal parliamentary proceedings including the reforms process”.
He particularly condemned the RFP’s bid to stop Mr Mokhothu from becoming premier on account of a past conviction for fraud.
RFP member, Thabo Lekoala, has filed a lawsuit seeking an order to declare Mr Mokhothu as ineligible to become Prime Minister, should a no-confidence vote in his favour succeed. He cites Mr Mokhothu’s criminal record arising from his conviction in 2007 for defrauding a school at which he was principal. Mr Mokhothu was fined 15 000 by the magistrates court in Maseru.
Mr Lekoala filed a case challenging Mokhothu’s eligibility to be appointed as prime minister on 30 October 2023. He wants the no confidence motion stayed until the courts have finalised his case regarding Mr Mokhothu’s eligibility. This could potentially delay the no confidence motion even if the Constitutional Court gives it the go ahead in the Puseletso case.
“There is a great likelihood that the motion of no confidence in the current Prime Minister will succeed as the 1st respondent (Mathibeli Mokhothu) has an apparent majority of fellow members of the National Assembly, they are most likely to topple the current Prime Minister and install him as the next Prime Minister, despite him having been convicted of fraud by Maseru Magistrate Court in CR181/07,” said Mr Lekoala.
Advocate Rakuoane said the bid to stop Mr Mokhothu because of a past criminal record was a clear sign that the Matekane coalition was afraid of the DC leader’s real chances of becoming Prime Minister.
He also lambasted Prof Mahao, accusing him of not being a principled man.
He said they had held meetings at Professor Mahao’s office, where he was “leading” the charge to topple the government. His change of heart was incomprehensible and had come as a surprise to them, he said.
“What kind of a person does that? This says a lot about his principles. We were all planning to oust Matekane and he was at the forefront of the mission, when he realised that we might lose, he shifted sides and joined the winning team. He is unprincipled,” said Adv Rakuoane.
All Basotho Convention (ABC) leader, Nkaku Kabi, said without a two thirds majority, Mr Matekane’s new coalition remained “at a risky place”.
