Fight over premiership scuttled deal

Staff Reporters MASERU — Democratic Congress (DC) leader Pakalitha Mosisli says his party could have formed a coalition government with the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) had it not been for disagreement over who was going to be the prime minister. Mosisili told a rally in Mabote last Sunday that the talks collapsed because LCD leader, Mothetjoa Metsing, wanted to be the prime minister of the coalition government. Mosisili, whose 14-year reign ended after his party failed to get the 61 seats required to form a government, is currently on a national tour to explain to his supporters why the DC is not in power even though it won most seats in the May 26 election. The DC won 48 seats, 13 short of the majority required to form a government.

After his party failed to get coalition partners Mosisili handed over power to a coalition government of the LCD, All Basotho Convention (ABC) and Basotho National Party (BNP). His revelations about the failed talks between the DC and LCD was meant to explain why he had to hand over power to the ABC’s Tom Thabane. The coalition has 61 seats and can still count on the support of smaller parties in parliament. “The LCD was the first party we tried to court for a coalition and we told them that we could all work well together because three months previously we were one. Had we merged, we’d have made 72 seats,”Mosisili said. He said in the first meeting the LCD seemed to have agreed to the deal but when the negotiators met for the second time things changed. “Although they had initially accepted our proposal, when they met again with our delegation they said they would only merge with us provided Ntate Metsing became the coalition’s prime minister.”

Mosisili said his delegation asked on what grounds Metsing was demanding to be the coalition’s prime minister when the DC has more parliamentary seats than the LCD. “We had 22 more seats than the LCD. “We told them that their demand was unfounded and asked if the intention was to cause problems between us and the people who voted for us,” Mosisili said. Mosisili said the DC knew the LCD despised him and Monyane Molelek, his deputy. He however said his delegation had told the LCD that he and Moleleki would step aside “in order to allow for the selection of neutral candidates from which the potential PM would be appointed while Metsing became the coalition’s deputy prime minister”.

“We never heard from them after that and we were surprised to hear the announcement that they had joined forces with the ABC and BNP.” Mosisili said the congress movement will never forgive the LCD’s for merging with the“nationalists”.

The LCD betrayed the congress ideology by going into a coalition government with the ABC and the BNP, he said.

“They will never forget that the LCD merged with nationalists. “Whether you’re an ABC or BNP supporter, you’re still a nationalist. They will be asked why they gave the nationalists the key to governance”. Attempts to contact Metsing were not successful as his mobile phone was not available. LCD secretary general Keketso Rantšo however told the Sunday Express yesterday that “there’s no truth in what Ntate Mosisili is saying”. “There’s absolutely no truth in that.

“I can’t right now divulge what actually happened but the LCD will soon call a press conference to give its side of the story,” Rantšo said.