{"id":29016,"date":"2023-05-24T09:34:06","date_gmt":"2023-05-24T09:34:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/matekane-courts-chiefs"},"modified":"2023-05-24T11:02:48","modified_gmt":"2023-05-24T11:02:48","slug":"matekane-courts-chiefs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/matekane-courts-chiefs","title":{"rendered":"Matekane courts chiefs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>PRIME Minister Sam Matekane is on a charm offensive to persuade principal chiefs to support the controversial National Assembly Electoral (Amendment) Bill in the Senate. Matekane used his government\u2019s majority to push the Bill in parliament despite a fierce push-back from the opposition.<\/p>\n

The opposition accused Matekane of zeroing in on the Bill because it stops floor-crossing for three years and therefore insulates his government from being toppled in parliament.<\/p>\n

The government however ignored those protests and pushed the Bill through parliament two weeks ago. But that was only the first half of the battle because Matekane still needs the Senate to pass the Bill.<\/p>\n

The trouble however is that the Senate is dominated by principal chiefs who are not beholden to his government. Without the support of the 22 chiefs in the 33-member Senate, the Bill could be dead in the water.<\/p>\n

The Senate\u2019s rejection of the Bill could be a major setback for a government eager to cushion itself from rebels who are allegedly plotting to join forces with the opposition to upend Matekane\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n

In addition to the embarrassment, a rejection by the Senate could trigger a confidence crisis and vindicate the opposition\u2019s position on the Bill. The opposition has since threatened to sue if it is passed by the Senate.<\/p>\n

Sources close to the issue say the government is not sure about the chiefs\u2019 position on the Bill. Matekane is however not leaving anything to chance and has started charming principal chiefs to support the Bill.<\/p>\n

His lobbying skills were on display at the meeting he had with the College of Chiefs on Friday. Although he was speaking about the reforms in general Matekane appeared to be nudging the chiefs to pass the Bill that is before the Senate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government saw it important to engage the chiefs for the sake of transparency and participation,\u201d Matekane said. Calling for unity, the prime minister said the \u201creforms process belongs to Basotho. \u201d<\/p>\n

He said the chiefs\u2019 presence at the meeting showed that they all wanted \u201cto rescue Lesotho from the claws of hunger and instability\u201d and being a pariah among regional and international organisations.<\/p>\n

He told the chiefs that they are renewing the pledge to pass the reforms as their priority. \u201cToday, I invite you to give direction going forward. \u201d Matekane said after forming the government last year \u201cthe journey towards peace and reconciliation would be taken so that progress is observed\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we do not heal each other we will not pass the reforms successfully.
\nHe pleaded with the Senate to start with the 10th Amendment to the Constitution Bill or Omnibus Bill, which seeks to overhaul the entire constitution.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a chance now to look at it and nurture it to give us fruitful fruits,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have high hopes that if we can hold hands together we will take Lesotho to where we want it.
\nDeputy Prime Minister Justice Majara said the meeting was the government\u2019s way of reaching out to the chiefs to lend their weight to the reform process.<\/p>\n

\u201cUpon our arrival, we did not invite the College of Chiefs. This was a mistake because we thought including Senate and principal chiefs meant the College of Chiefs was included,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The Bill says MPs can only cross the floor during a 15-day window period declared by the Speaker of Parliament after three years. It states that MPs who cross the floor before or after that window will vacate their seat and face a fresh election.<\/p>\n

The Bill also says a vote of no confidence can only be moved once during parliament\u2019s five-year tenure. It also limits the powers of proportional representation MPs to vote against their party\u2019s position in parliament.<\/p>\n

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

Africa-Press – Lesotho. PRIME Minister Sam Matekane is on a charm offensive to persuade principal chiefs to support the controversial National Assembly Electoral (Amendment) Bill in the Senate. Matekane used his government\u2019s majority to push the Bill in parliament despite a fierce push-back from the opposition. The opposition accused Matekane of zeroing in on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":29014,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,8,12],"tags":[233,246,245,163],"class_list":["post-29016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-homepage-english","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-lesotho","tag-parliament"],"yoast_head":"\nMatekane courts chiefs - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"PRIME Minister Sam Matekane is on a charm offensive to persuade principal chiefs to support the controversial National A ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/matekane-courts-chiefs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Matekane courts chiefs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"PRIME Minister Sam Matekane is on a charm offensive to persuade principal chiefs to support the controversial National A ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/matekane-courts-chiefs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-05-24T09:34:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-05-24T11:02:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/05\/sm_1684909896.961927.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"590\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"354\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/matekane-courts-chiefs#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/matekane-courts-chiefs\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Matekane courts chiefs\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-24T09:34:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-24T11:02:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/matekane-courts-chiefs\"},\"wordCount\":641,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/matekane-courts-chiefs#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/05\/sm_1684909896.961927.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Lesotho\",\"Lesotho\",\"Parliament\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/matekane-courts-chiefs#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/matekane-courts-chiefs\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/matekane-courts-chiefs\",\"name\":\"Matekane courts chiefs - 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