{"id":35406,"date":"2023-10-30T16:43:10","date_gmt":"2023-10-30T16:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mahali-says-its-game-on"},"modified":"2023-10-30T16:52:46","modified_gmt":"2023-10-30T16:52:46","slug":"mahali-says-its-game-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mahali-says-its-game-on","title":{"rendered":"Mahali says it\u2019s game on!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>Dr Mahali Phamotse says her expulsion from the Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) party last weekend will not extinguish her political career. Dr Phamotse, who is the MP for Matlakeng constituency, says she still has a future in Lesotho\u2019s national politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough I am hurt that they say they have expelled me I will not stop in my political journey,\u201d Dr Phamotse said.<\/p>\n

She was expelled in absentia together with two other MPs, Jacob Makhalanyane and Rethabile Letlailana. Makhalanyane is the MP for Abia constituency while Letlailana represents Lithoteng constituency.<\/p>\n

The three were booted out at a special conference for the RFP held in Maseru last Saturday. Their expulsion comes barely two months after the RFP\u2019s national executive committee suspended them for a period of six years.<\/p>\n

They had been ordered to not engage in any RFP activities including parliamentary caucuses, constituency rallies, and wearing the party regalia. Dr Phamotse said their dismissal was unlawful as they have challenged their suspension in the High Court.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am still waiting for the courts to rule, I am not ejecting from politics, this is just the beginning,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She recalled resigning from the National University of Lesotho (NUL) where she was a political science lecturer to pursue her dream in politics. \u201cI will not stop, I am hurt that they say they have expelled me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Dr Phamotse said the party expelled her because she invited leaders of opposition parties to her election victory celebration in her Matlakeng constituency after last year\u2019s elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they also expelled me for voting with the opposition,\u201d she said, adding that she followed her conscience when she voted in parliament against the government.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am still an MP,\u201d she said, adding: \u201cA political party is just an umbrella when you are a Member of Parliament.<\/p>\n

\u201d She said she can only stop being an MP when she resigns, dies, or when parliament is dissolved.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one can remove me from that position, I will not be (thrown) out of parliament,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Thabo Maretlane, the RFP deputy spokesman, said the expulsion happened at the party special conference after their leader Sam Matekane made an opening speech talking about the suspension of the trio.<\/p>\n

He said Matekane reported that the national executive committee suspended the MPs and it was up to the special conference to decide what to do with them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not have a right as a committee to expel members, only the conference would, and they did,\u201d Maretlane said.<\/p>\n

He also said the conference also resolved to keep the founding national executive committee until 2027. He said Matekane appealed to members to allow him to keep the committee he is leading intact until 2027.<\/p>\n

Matekane said the current committee know and understands his vision. Dr Phamotse, Letlailana, Makhalanyane and a faction of the RFP had over the past year been pushing for an elective conference to elect a new leadership.<\/p>\n

They argued that the current committee was an interim one which must pave way for an elected one. They took the party to court seeking an order to force the national executive committee to prepare for an elective conference.<\/p>\n

Instead of holding the elective conference, the RFP national executive committee called a special conference where it expelled the rebels. Mokhethi Shelile, the RFP\u2019s spokesman, said their conference \u201cwas authentic as it was called by a circular\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur delegations were formed with three members from each constituency,\u201d Shelile said.<\/p>\n

He said Matekane\u2019s opening speech \u201cwas just a report to the conference and not a decision\u201d. \u201cThe members themselves made a decision that those three should go,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne delegate was seconded by another and it passed like that.<\/p>\n

\u201d However, a dissenter MP from Pela-Ts\u030coeu, \u2019Mope Khati, said \u201cthere was no reason to do this, because this matter is before the courts of laws\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said the RFP should have waited for the court\u2019s decision. \u201cI am still a devout member of the RFP until my leader or the committee decides to expel me,\u201d Khati said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope the leader could arrange a meeting to iron out our issues,\u201d he said. He said they are just MPs who must promote the public interest.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should remember that we are serving both our followers and other people who did not even vote for us.<\/p>\n

\u201d He complained that they attended the special conference without a clear agenda despite him suggesting that they should be provided with such.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happened there was just executing decisions that were made by the leadership,\u201d he said. Makhalanyane and Letlailana declined to comment.<\/p>\n

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

Africa-Press – Lesotho. Dr Mahali Phamotse says her expulsion from the Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) party last weekend will not extinguish her political career. Dr Phamotse, who is the MP for Matlakeng constituency, says she still has a future in Lesotho\u2019s national politics. \u201cAlthough I am hurt that they say they have expelled me I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":35405,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[233,246,245,388],"class_list":["post-35406","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-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nMahali says it\u2019s game on! - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dr Mahali Phamotse says her expulsion from the Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) party last weekend will not extinguish he ...\" \/>\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\/mahali-says-its-game-on\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mahali says it\u2019s game on!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dr Mahali Phamotse says her expulsion from the Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) party last weekend will not extinguish he ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mahali-says-its-game-on\" \/>\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=\"2023-10-30T16:43:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-30T16:52:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/10\/sm_1698672113.510764.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1655\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1102\" \/>\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=\"4 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\/mahali-says-its-game-on#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mahali-says-its-game-on\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Mahali says it\u2019s game on!\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-30T16:43:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-30T16:52:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mahali-says-its-game-on\"},\"wordCount\":785,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mahali-says-its-game-on#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/10\/sm_1698672113.510764.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Lesotho\",\"Lesotho\",\"politics\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mahali-says-its-game-on#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mahali-says-its-game-on\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mahali-says-its-game-on\",\"name\":\"Mahali says it\u2019s game on! 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