{"id":19310,"date":"2022-08-27T12:16:22","date_gmt":"2022-08-27T12:16:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/?p=19310"},"modified":"2022-08-27T11:44:30","modified_gmt":"2022-08-27T11:44:30","slug":"vote-z-shao-in-ha-tsolo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/vote-z-shao-in-ha-tsolo","title":{"rendered":"Vote Z Shao in Ha-Tsolo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>THEY took his money but blocked him when he wanted to be one of the party\u2019s candidates in the elections. That is the story of Zhenyu Shao, a Mosotho of Chinese descent who has shocked many by declaring that he will be contesting in Ha-Tsolo as an independent candidate.<\/p>\n

Had it not been for the Movement for Economic Change (MEC) fear of a backlash, Shao would have been its candidate. After all, he had been one of their main funders of the party for years.<\/p>\n

The party embraced Shao and received his donations until he recently announced that he wanted to contest in Ha-Tsolo. Last week Shao, 46, threw his hat into the ring to stand in the October 7 elections.<\/p>\n

If he wins, Shao will be the first Mosotho of Chinese descent to be an MP in Lesotho. Shao told thepost last night that he will contest as an independent candidate because his newly-formed party, Basotho Pele, is not yet registered with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).<\/p>\n

Basotho Pele, which began as a self-help association, transformed into a political party after the MEC blocked Shao\u2019s candidacy. A video of Shao in MEC regalia started trending on social media last week.<\/p>\n

He was singing political songs while waving a stick. A few days later there was a campaign poster of Shao under Basotho Pele. The MEC had blocked his ambition but Shao, a businessman, was not about to give up.<\/p>\n

Speaking from Johannesburg last night where he said he was printing his campaign T-shirts, Shao said the MEC rejected him. \u201cThey rejected me. They said they will lose votes in many constituencies if they allow me to be a candidate but now they are going to lose more votes,\u201d Shao said.<\/p>\n

Shao said he is not worried because the people of Ha-Tsolo support him. \u201cEveryone is looking for me,\u201d he said, adding that he is \u201c100 percent sure that is doing right thing\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want the people to judge. If they want me they will vote for me. If they don\u2019t want me they will not vote for me. It\u2019s simple,\u201d he said last night.<\/p>\n

Born in China\u2019s Shanghai, Shao said he has been in Lesotho for the past 25 years. When Shao defected to Basotho Pele, some MEC constituency committee members followed.<\/p>\n

Some of those who left with him said the MEC brought them \u201ctwo Chinese businessmen but now they are asked to turn their backs on them\u201d. \u201cThe MEC wants us to turn against those Chinese,\u201d said one former MEC supporter.<\/p>\n

Basotho Pele\u2019s secretary general in Ha-Tsolo constituency, Rorisang Lit\u0161iba, said \u201cShao has been helping this community a lot,\u201d Lit\u0161iba said. Lit\u0161iba said Shao had already printed MEC T-shirts when the party rejected him.<\/p>\n

Lit\u0161iba said Shao even assisted them with bus fare to attend the MEC rallies. \u201cWe even ate at the rallies,\u201d Lit\u0161iba said. \u201cMaybe in the coming years, we will contest for the elections in other constituencies,\u201d said Lebohang Moeletsi, another former MEC member, who claims to be the Basotho Pele\u2019s adviser.<\/p>\n

He said they were introduced to Shao by the MEC\u2019s secretary general, Napo Moshoeshoe, who even gave Shao the party\u2019s membership card. \u201cWe accepted him with open arms,\u201d Moeletsi said.<\/p>\n

Moeletsi said Shao went on to help them. He said before accepting Shao into the party they asked for his national ID, passport, and registration cards.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has all of them and he even voted in previous elections. He is a Mosotho,\u201d Moeletsi argued. He said all hell broke loose when the constituency decided to make Shao their candidate for the coming general elections.<\/p>\n

Then they were called to a meeting with Moshoeshoe and MEC\u2019s spokesman \u201cwho asked us to look elsewhere as the MEC would not allow Shao to represent it\u201d.<\/p>\n

Moeletsi said in that meeting the MEC said they would rather plan to give Shao a diplomatic post instead of having him in parliament. \u201cWe made it clear that wherever Shao goes, we will follow him as he has helped our constituency with many things,\u201d Moeletsi said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has been sponsoring sports and helping with egg incubators for the unemployed,\u201d The MEC deputy leader, T\u0161epang T\u0161ita-Mosena, said she has seen the MEC card belonging to Shao on social media. T\u0161ita-Mosena said they are still conducting primary elections at the branches\u2019 level and they are waiting for a report from the constituencies.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Lesotho<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. THEY took his money but blocked him when he wanted to be one of the party\u2019s candidates in the elections. That is the story of Zhenyu Shao, a Mosotho of Chinese descent who has shocked many by declaring that he will be contesting in Ha-Tsolo as an independent candidate. Had it not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":19309,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,8,12,16],"tags":[233,246,1452,245],"class_list":["post-19310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-homepage-english","category-policy","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-election","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"\nVote Z Shao in Ha-Tsolo - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"THEY took his money but blocked him when he wanted to be one of the party\u2019s candidates in the elections. 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