Maseru - Lesotho will go to the polls next February, almost two and half years ahead of schedule, under a deal brokered by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa to defuse tensions spawned by last month’s attempted putsch in the tiny kingdom.
Parliament, which had been suspended in June by Prime Minister Thomas Thabane, will now re-open on October 17 and then be dissolved in December for the country to go to early elections during February next year.
The agreement which Ramaphosa brokered with the main Lesotho politicians over the last two weeks, is called the Maseru Facilitation Declaration (MFD).
But things can still go wrong. A key ally of Thabane, Samonyane Ntsekele, secretary-general of the All Basotho Convention, declared after Ramaphosa’s announcement of the deal at a press conference here on Thursday, that the MFD was “non-binding” and its full implementation “depended on the security issues being resolved”.
At least three other previous agreements, with specific timelines for the re-opening of parliament, brokered by Namibian President Hafikupunye Pohamba and President Jacob Zuma, failed to materialise.
This was because the coalition government parties persisted with their bickering.
Ramaphosa did not specify a date for the elections, saying it would be announced by King Letsie III, but the Independent Foreign Service understands that the polls will be convened on 28 February 2014, if the MFD holds until that date.
When Parliament resumes on October 17, it will only discuss the budget and conditions for free and fair elections, according to the agreement.
This implies that Thabane’s political opponents will not pass a motion of no confidence in him as they had threatened to do.
The fear of such a motion prompted Thabane to suspend parliament in June as he would certainly have been ousted by a new coalition comprising the main opposition Democratic Congress (DC) which commands the most seats, 48 in the 120-member parliament.
In addition, Thabane’s coalition partner, the Lesotho Congress for Democracy, with 26 seats had switched allegiance to the DC.
DC deputy leader Monyane Moleleki said last night his party would abide by Ramaphosa’s deal, but added that he was not sure whether Thabane would do the same.
“Seeing that the prime minister has reneged on previous commitments, we can only be cautiously optimistic that this may hold…”
Ramaphosa said he had not dealt with the still tense security situation in the country as it was not part of the agenda but he urged all security chiefs to co-operate in delivering Lesotho out of its current problems.
Thabane had cited the continuing insecurity in the country as his reason for not complying with previous agreements to recall parliament.
He said on Tuesday he was not budging on his decision to fire army commander Tlali Kamoli, who led a coup against him on August 30. But Kamoli has refused to go after emptying the country’s arsenal and he still commands the army.
His official replacement, Maaparankoe Mahao, has operated from hiding for fear of him.
Ntsekele said for as long as there were no security guarantees to ensure that the electoral environment was conducive for everyone, Thursday’s deal would not bear fruit.
The remarks by Ntsekele, who also works as Thabane’s main political adviser in the government, seem to present hurdles to be cleared before Lesotho resolves its crisis. - Independent Foreign Service
Pretoria News