news

June 6, 2019

METRO REPORTERS

3 min read

Thabane faces motion of no confidence

Thabane faces motion of no confidence

Lesotho parliament

Metro Audio Articles

Catch our weekly audio news daily only on Metro Radio Podcast News.

listen now

Politically accosted and facing a vote of no confidence motion in parliament this week, Prime Minister Tom Thabane had a sigh of relief on Tuesday June 4 when parliament adjourned for three months until September 13 before the motion was orally tabled.

Opposition parties in cahoots with Thabane’s own party Members of Parliament who fell out with their leader, have filed a motion of no confidence against him; the success of which could lead to Thabane leaving office or see the collapse of his four-party coalition government and a call for fresh snap elections. There has been on-going infighting in Thabane’s All Basotho Convention (ABC), since a disputed elective conference in February.
The conference elected Thabane as party leader unopposed. But a faction that supports him doesn’t want the winner of the deputy leader position, Professor Nqosa Mahao. The two factions have been through several court battles in both the High Court and the Appeal Court, and every weekend they hold separate rallies that have led to further divisions among ordinary members on the ground. The motion of no confidence on the pipeline follows a motion tabled by ABC MP for the Mosalemane constituency, Tsoinyane Rapapa, that in case of no confidence motion tabled against the premier, MPs should be allowed a secret vote.

Enjoy our daily newsletter from today

Access exclusive newsletters, along with previews of new media releases.

On Friday last week, Rapapa demanded clarity from the Speaker of Parliament, Sephiri Motanyane, about the progress on his motion to allow members a secret ballot. “Since I proposed the motion, I have not yet heard or seen anything been done about that motion,” he remarked. He said he has proposed three motions to the house, however, none has been brought before the house to be debated and therefore sought an explanation. For his part, Motanyane said: “Mine is only to sign that the motion has been tabled. It is upon the business committee to bring business before the house.”

The writing is on the wall with the signs of revolt by some ABC MPs against Thabane. Last week some ABC MPs voted with the opposition on the motion of suspension of main opposition MP for the Senqu constituency, Likeleli Tampane, from parliament for having breached some of the parliament’s sanding orders when she refused to leave the House, despite having been ordered by the Speaker to do so. The opposition won with 49 votes, while the government got 38 votes - 33 MPs were absent. Analysts said this was a clear sign that the divisions in the party had affected Thabane’s majority in the house of representatives.

The current 4-party coalition government is composed of ABC as the main partner, the Alliance of Democrats (AD) led by Monyane Moleleki, Basotho National Party (BNP) led by Chief Thesele ’Maseribane and Reformed Congress of Lesotho (RCL) led by Keketso Rants’o, which managed to get 70 seats of the 120 seats in Parliament. The in-fighting within ABC is believed to have its roots in the fact that Thabane’s wife, ’Maesiah, is alleged to be the source of division by “regularly overstepping into Thabane’s constitutional role by going to government offices and ordering ministers and government officials around.”

Should the motion of no confidence succeed in September when Parliament resumes from the winter break, the Prime Minister has more than one option according to the Constitution: He can succumb to the motion and step down or advise the king to dissolve parliament and call for fresh elections. The latter option has been the most preferred recently. When he was facing a similar situation in 2014, Thabane called for snap elections. Former Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili also called for snap elections in 2016 after he lost a vote of no confidence. Lesotho has therefore held elections in 2012, 2015 and 2017 – and on all three occasions, the sitting prime minister had either circumvented motion of no confidence or lost it and chosen to go to elections instead of stepping down.

Additional reporting by EWN and Lena

Share the story

METRO WEATHER FORECAST