Africa-Press – Lesotho. OPPOSITION parties this week piled pressure on Prime Minister Sam Matekane, telling him to re-open parliament now or they will sue. The parties, arguing that parliament was supposed to have opened on September 1, say Matekane is playing delaying tactics to avoid a vote of no confidence that the opposition is planning.
They say they are now left with no option but to use the courts to force his hand. Several opposition leaders have confirmed to thepost that a court application is imminent.
Tefo Mapesela, leader of the Basotho Patriotic Party (BPP), last night said “we will go to court and force them to re-open parliament”. “Why are they scared to do so?” he asked.
“The House should have been opened weeks ago. Our calendar says on September 1,” Mapesela said. The Popular Front for Democracy (PFD) leader, Advocate Lekhetho Rakuoane, said they are giving Matekane this week or next to re-open parliament.
“We will embark on a court case if the notice paper is not released before the end of this week or next week,” Advocate Rakuoane said.
The Basotho National Party (BNP) leader, Machesetsa Mofomobe, said “Matekane is afraid to open parliament but we will force him to”. “He says he has numbers.
He says he has 71 seats. Why is he afraid to re-open parliament yet he has the numbers?” Mofomobe asked. “There are a lot of community issues that have to be addressed.
” The Leader of the Opposition, Mathibeli Mokhothu, of the Democratic Congress (DC) tweeted calling for parliament to re-open.
“Why can’t parliament be re-opened now?” Mokhothu asked rhetorically, before answering: “It is because people have turned their backs.
” He said the law is clear that parliament should re-open from the winter break on or before 1 September, 2023.
In another tweet, Mokhothu’s deputy, Motlalentoa Letsosa, said since 1993 “the current government is the first to fail to reconvene parliament”. “Matekane’s administration is set to fail,” Letsosa said.
Letsosa said parliament should be re-opened before the independence break. Lesotho’s Independence Day is on October 4. The Basotho Action Party (BAP) spokesman, Lepolesa Makutoane, said his party is also calling for parliament to reconvene.
“The government thinks it would be ousted if they re-open parliament,” Makutoane said.
He said the government’s fears stem from their internal conflicts as they are scared that three suspended MPs from Matekane’s Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) will connive with the opposition in parliament to launch a motion of no-confidence.
The RFP committee suspended three MPs, Dr Mahali Phamotse, Rethabile Letlailana and Jacob Makhalanyane for six consecutive years. The three are said to have the support of other disgruntled RFP MPs who might throw their lot with the opposition to topple the government.
The All Basotho Convention (ABC) leader Nkaku Kabi told his followers in Mahobong on Sunday that the government is afraid to re-open parliament because it has weakened itself by suspending three MPs.
Parliamentary affairs coordinator, Khosi Makubakube, said there is nothing new about the delay to reconvene parliament. He said it is true that parliament should have re-opened but “the MPs are busy preparing for the Local Government elections”.
“The closure of parliament should not appear as something new or as a surprise,” Makubakube said.
He said in 2019, parliament closed in June and re-opened in mid-October. Again, the 10th Parliament once closed in June and re-opened in October. “It has always been happening,” Makubakube said.
“For me, it would not be wise to re-open parliament when the MPs are busy preparing for the elections.
” Parliament, he said, would still close again for the Independence Day holiday. He said it is surprising that “the same people who are complaining were part of the 10th parliament and they saw this happening”.
The ABC Youth League spokesman, Mphonyane Lebesa, said Matekane should re-open the parliament so that the MPs confront him with a lot of irregularities seen in his administration.
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