…as Ramaphosa arrives today to ensure parties adhere to SADC roadmap
Bongiwe Zihlangu
SOUTH Africa’s deputy president, Cyril Ramaphosa, is set to arrive in Maseru this morning to facilitate the reopening of parliament and holding of early elections in an effort to restore political stability to Lesotho.
A Southern African Development Community (SADC) meeting held in Pretoria on Monday this week chose Mr Ramaphosa to be the facilitator in yet another attempt to ensure Lesotho’s different political parties find a lasting, peaceful solution to their squabbles.
After the leadership of the ruling All Basotho Convention (ABC), Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) and Basotho National Party (BNP) — whose parties formed a coalition government after the 26 May 2012 election could not produce an outright majority winner — had failed to resolve their differences, SADC was obliged to step in, resulting in a number of recommendations aimed at ensuring an amicable end to the impasse.
Among Mr Ramaphosa’s mandates is to ensure parliament, which has been closed since Prime Minister Thomas Thabane suspended it for nine months on 10 June 2014 to avert a no-confidence vote in his leaders due to alleged maladministration, is reopened tomorrow, and a date is set for the election of a new government.
Basotho were expected to go to the polls to choose a new government in 2017.
BNP leader, Thesele ‘Maseribane told the Lesotho Times that while there was consensus among the coalition government leaders — himself, ABC leader Dr Thabane and Mothetjoa Metsing of the LCD — on the need to hold fresh elections, there was no such agreement on the reopening of Parliament on 19 September.
This, he said, was despite the three leaders agreeing to reopen the August House on the said date during another SADC-brokered meeting held in Pretoria early this month.
“It has been decided that Lesotho should call for a fresh election and for political parties to return to the electorate to seek a new mandate,” Chief ‘Maseribane said this week.
“However, there will not be any opening of parliament anytime soon. For now, we await the arrival of our facilitator so that we can prepare for the election and also set a date for the poll.”
According to the BNP leader — who has largely agreed with Dr Thabane since the birth of the coalition government in June 2012, while Mr Metsing has been seen to sympathise with the main opposition Democratic Congress (DC) and other “congress parties”— parliament would only be opened “when there are laws to be amended”.
“We will only focus on parliamentary and constitutional reforms, as well as amending electoral laws, and only go into parliament to fix such laws,” Chief ‘Maseribane said.
Asked how they planned to deal with a possible motion-of-no-confidence which the LCD/DC alliance plans to move against the government once parliament reopens, Chief ‘Maseribane said: “There won’t be any motion to that effect.
“If there are people thinking that by next week they will be prime ministers after a no-confidence vote, they might as well forget it because there won’t be anything like that happening in parliament.
“It has been agreed that Lesotho should call a fresh election to give birth to a new government and only Thabane will take us to that election as prime minister.
“Even when we go into parliament when the time comes, Thabane will still be PM.”
ABC secretary general, Samonyane Ntsekele, echoed similar sentiments when contacted by the Lesotho Times, insisting those who are saying parliament should reconvene on Friday “seem to have totally lost the plot”.
According to Mr Ntsekele, during Monday’s meeting in Pretoria, SADC chairman Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, was clear when parliament reconvenes, “focus should only be on reforms”.
“Mr Mugabe was clear that focus should only be on parliamentary and constitutional reforms. We expect nothing else other than what was agreed on,” Mr Ntsekele said.
The “noise” LCD and DC supporters were making that parliament should resume on Friday, Mr Ntsekele said, was in contempt of the SADC resolutions.
Mr Ntsekele further said the determination by “some people”, to hijack government via a no-confidence vote in parliament “is the main reason behind some calling for parliament to open on Friday”.
“They just want to hijack government via a no-confidence vote. They are self-serving people whose interest is not the nation’s, but their own. Why else would they want to have parliament opened, except to push their own agendas?”
Since the prorogation, which was the main bone of contention, was lifted on 5 September, Mr Ntsekele said of utmost importance now was to wait for Mr Ramaphosa to arrive as facilitator, to consult with stakeholders and agree on the way forward for Lesotho.
“Only then can a decision be made on when to open parliament,” Mr Ntsekele said.
However, the LCD has a completely different view on the reopening of the August House, with the party’s acting secretary general, Tšeliso Mokhosi, insisting it would be reopened tomorrow.
“The LCD’s standpoint is that parliament reconvenes on Friday to honour agreements signed by the coalition partners, both in Windhoek before Namibia’s President Hifikepunye Pohamba and another in Pretoria,” Mr Mokhosi said.
According to Mr Mokhosi, who also the Minister of Energy, Meteorology and Water Affairs, the LCD would insist on parliament reopening “as agreed on 19 September.
“The LCD does not agree with the ABC and BNP that parliament should not be reconvened until such a time that laws have been drafted; we did not agree on that.
“This goes to show you that the BNP and ABC are untrustworthy. Lesotho is a member of SADC and the leaders of these two parties need to understand that agreements made at that level are binding.
“Why sign SADC agreements when you know that at the end of the day, you will resort to local laws?”
Mr Mokhosi further suggested that the “refusal” by the ABC and BNP to reopen parliament was aimed at provoking the LCD into “reacting negatively” and “creating chaos so that they seek military intervention from SADC”.
“All they want is to secure military intervention from SADC to spill poor Basotho’s blood and until Lesotho’s military population is wiped out.
“The PM and BNP just want military intervention to have people killed and create chaos; they will keep on creating feeble excuses why parliament should not be opened.”
Mr Mokhoso also said while his party supported the holding of a fresh election, “it’s also going to cost this country”.
“They are calling this election which will not only be heavy on the government purse, but will also adversely affect poor Basotho, as money for important projects would have to be diverted,” Mr Mokhosi said.
“But then again, it is true that peace comes at a price and if we need peace, then we have no choice but to go for an election.”
However, Mr Mokhosi was quick to add Dr Thabane might not even hold the election eventually.
“The irony of it is that we might never even see this election because those people are not interested. They are just buying time because they are hiding, but from what, we’re yet to establish,” Mr Mokhosi said.
“The thing is, Thabane is having so much fun enjoying the cushy life of being PM. He knows that if we go for a fresh election, he will not return to office.”
Asked if the LCD had undertaken not to back a no-confidence motion once parliament resumes, Mr Mokhosi said although the LCD had no intention of engaging in one “we have never agreed with anyone that we won’t do it”.
“It was never a subject of debate to begin with, and nobody focused on it that much; we can’t say we will or won’t do it,” Mr Mokhosi said.
“The things I can confidently say we agreed o, are parliamentary and constitutional reforms, and the code of conduct for political parties ahead of the polls.”
