{"id":35326,"date":"2023-10-28T16:56:03","date_gmt":"2023-10-28T16:56:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/ultimatum-for-matekane"},"modified":"2023-10-28T17:10:55","modified_gmt":"2023-10-28T17:10:55","slug":"ultimatum-for-matekane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/ultimatum-for-matekane","title":{"rendered":"Ultimatum for Matekane"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Tefo Mapesela, leader of the Basotho Patriotic Party (BPP), last night said \u201cwe will go to court and force them to re-open parliament\u201d. \u201cWhy are they scared to do so?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe House should have been opened weeks ago. Our calendar says on September 1,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will embark on a court case if the notice paper is not released before the end of this week or next week,\u201d Advocate Rakuoane said.<\/p>\n

The Basotho National Party (BNP) leader, Machesetsa Mofomobe, said \u201cMatekane is afraid to open parliament but we will force him to\u201d. \u201cHe says he has numbers.<\/p>\n

He says he has 71 seats. Why is he afraid to re-open parliament yet he has the numbers?\u201d Mofomobe asked. \u201cThere are a lot of community issues that have to be addressed.<\/p>\n

\u201d The Leader of the Opposition, Mathibeli Mokhothu, of the Democratic Congress (DC) tweeted calling for parliament to re-open.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy can\u2019t parliament be re-opened now?\u201d Mokhothu asked rhetorically, before answering: \u201cIt is because people have turned their backs.<\/p>\n

\u201d He said the law is clear that parliament should re-open from the winter break on or before 1 September, 2023.<\/p>\n

In another tweet, Mokhothu\u2019s deputy, Motlalentoa Letsosa, said since 1993 \u201cthe current government is the first to fail to reconvene parliament\u201d. \u201cMatekane\u2019s administration is set to fail,\u201d Letsosa said.<\/p>\n

Letsosa said parliament should be re-opened before the independence break. Lesotho\u2019s Independence Day is on October 4. The Basotho Action Party (BAP) spokesman, Lepolesa Makutoane, said his party is also calling for parliament to reconvene.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government thinks it would be ousted if they re-open parliament,\u201d Makutoane said.<\/p>\n

He said the government\u2019s fears stem from their internal conflicts as they are scared that three suspended MPs from Matekane\u2019s Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) will connive with the opposition in parliament to launch a motion of no-confidence.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cthe MPs are busy preparing for the Local Government elections\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe closure of parliament should not appear as something new or as a surprise,\u201d Makubakube said.<\/p>\n

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. \u201cIt has always been happening,\u201d Makubakube said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it would not be wise to re-open parliament when the MPs are busy preparing for the elections.<\/p>\n

\u201d Parliament, he said, would still close again for the Independence Day holiday. He said it is surprising that \u201cthe same people who are complaining were part of the 10th parliament and they saw this happening\u201d.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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

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. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":35325,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[233,246,245,2120],"class_list":["post-35326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-lesotho","tag-sam-matekane"],"yoast_head":"\nUltimatum for Matekane - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"OPPOSITION parties this week piled pressure on Prime Minister Sam Matekane, telling him to re-open parliament now or the ...\" \/>\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\/ultimatum-for-matekane\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ultimatum for Matekane\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"OPPOSITION parties this week piled pressure on Prime Minister Sam Matekane, telling him to re-open parliament now or the ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/ultimatum-for-matekane\" \/>\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=\"2023-10-28T16:56:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-28T17:10:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/10\/sm_1698500166.053561.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\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\/ultimatum-for-matekane#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/ultimatum-for-matekane\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Ultimatum for Matekane\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-28T16:56:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-28T17:10:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/ultimatum-for-matekane\"},\"wordCount\":662,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/ultimatum-for-matekane#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/10\/sm_1698500166.053561.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Lesotho\",\"Lesotho\",\"Sam Matekane\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/ultimatum-for-matekane#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/ultimatum-for-matekane\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/ultimatum-for-matekane\",\"name\":\"Ultimatum for Matekane - 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