Africa-Press – Lesotho. THE government is seeking a mediator to break an impasse with the opposition after sharp differences emerged over how to proceed with the reforms agenda. The two sides had a heated debate in parliament this week over the Omnibus Bill.
With tempers flaring, the opposition allegedly gave the government an ultimatum: stop firing principal secretaries or they would not support the Omnibus Bill where it needs a two-thirds majority.
In a statement on Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Nthomeng Majara said the government has already “asked the mediator to come and bring the two disputing sides together”.
Justice Majara said the government side had proposed that the Omnibus Bill, also called the 11th Amendment to the Constitution, should be passed in parliament in three phases.
The first phase, she said, would be Bills that merely require a simple majority for them to pass in parliament and be enacted into law. The second phase would be the Bills that would require a two-thirds majority while the third one would be those that require a referendum.
The government also proposed the establishment of a body that would continue the job left by the now defunct National Reforms Authority (NRA). The opposition had none of it. The opposition wants a full package of the Omnibus Bill to be passed into law as it was prepared under the previous regime.
The leader of Areka Covenant Front for Development (Baena), Paul Masiu, who represents the coalition of Baena, the Lesotho People’s Congress (LPC) and the Lesotho Workers Party (LWP) in parliament, said “the opposition threatened not to support the reforms process that needs a two-thirds majority”.
“The opposition said if the government does not stop firing the principal secretaries they would not support it to pass the reforms where a two-thirds majority is needed,” Masiu said.
He however told thepost that he does agree with this proposal. “The opposition parties want the Bill passed as it is because it was done during their regime,” Masiu, who was not in parliament in the past government, said.
“They do not want things to change,” he said.
“This is madness.
” He said the opposition parties are also not happy that the government plans to bring the original copy that was the National Reforms Authority.
“They want things to be done their own way,” he said.
Meanwhile, the government has invited all political leaders in parliament to attend a meeting that will be held at ’Manthabiseng Convention Centre today to deal with the disputes over the Omnibus Bill.
The government’s proposal is that the Bill should be split into three parts, a simple majority, two-thirds majority and the referendum. In the statement, it is suggested that after the amendments have entered parliament, there should be an authority to help enhance the reforms.
Because of their differences as politicians on the reforms issues, the government said they will also seek an independent mediator to get in between where there are conflicts.
The Basotho National Party (BNP) leader, Machesetsa Mofomobe, argued that the government “should not have a piecemeal approach to the reforms process”.
“We need the full package of the reforms,” Mofomobe said, arguing that “the government wants to fiddle with the reforms”.
“We want the reforms as they were after being packaged by the previous parliament,” he said.
He said the government wants to deal with the reforms in pieces because it wants to prioritise those it wants with the aim to create jobs for friends of the ruling parties.
Mofomobe stood up with a motion in parliament that the whole package of the Omnibus Bill should be passed into law. He said the Speaker of Parliament, Tlohang Sekhamane, wrote back to him that his motion has financial implications therefore he should go slow on it.
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