Billy Ntaote
THE Democratic Congress (DC) has stepped up its quest to forge international alliances by formalising relations with the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC).
DC Deputy Secretary-General Refiloe Litjobo told the Sunday Express they hosted a CPC delegation last week to formalise the relations.
Mr Litjobo said theirs was a social democratic party with similar ideological aspirations as the CPC of serving the interests of the poor and the marginalised. The CPC was formed on 1 July 1921 and came to power in 1949 under the leadership of the late Mao Zedong.
He said the alliance was a good development for his party and it marked the beginning of a campaign of establishing formal ties with political parties sharing similar aspirations across the world.
“We had a fruitful discussion on areas of cooperation and this is the beginning of a long journey of sharing experiences and skills. We understand that they are a big political party with a long history but our relations would be that of equals and would be mutually beneficial,” Mr Litjobo said.
He said just like the CPC, the DC had strong aspirations of entrenching good governance and the economic emancipation of the poor.
The DC is the major partner in a governing coalition that also includes the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD), Marematlou Freedom Party, Basotho Congress Party, National Independent Party, Lesotho People’s Congress and Popular Front for Democracy.
Mr Litjobo also said the DC also stood to benefit from the CPC’s expertise in resolving internal contradictions and conflict to in order to maintain discipline among its members.
The DC has been engulfed in a succession feud that has threatened to split the party in the middle. It has two factions with Lithope (loosely translated to girlfriends) linked to party leader and Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili and Lirurubele (butterflies) linked to his deputy and Police Minister Moleleki.
“For a party with millions of registered members, it (CPC) continues to maintain discipline and we have learned from them the need to have stronger mechanisms for dealing with conflict within our organisation,” Mr Litjobo said.
“These are mechanisms that are democratic and worth emulating especially at a time when our party is troubled by internal strife.”
He also said it would not be their first time working with the CPC as they had previously worked together when they were still in the LCD. The DC split from the LCD in 2012
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