Pascalinah Kabi

THE deputy leader of the opposition Democratic Congress (DC), Motlalentoa Letsosa, says the adjournment of parliament is a clear indication that “the future is gloomy and all is not well in the 4×4 government.” The governing coalition is called the 4×4 government because it comprises of four parties, namely the ABC, the BNP, the AD and the RCL.

Mr Letsosa who is also the legislator for the Qalabane constituency, recently took to Twitter where he tweeted that “it (is) very unusual to have a motion of adjournment sine die at this time of the year”.

“All this means is that all is not well in the 4×4 government. The future is gloomy. When members of parliament go for a break without stating the date when they should come back, this (the break) has the potential to take months or even years”.

Mr Letsosa subsequently told the Sunday Express that adjourning the national assembly indefinitely was “crueler and more undemocratic” than proroguing parliament because unlike proroguing parliament which was only for a maximum of 12 months, it could take months and even years to reconvene parliament if it was adjourned indefinitely.

“What is going to happen on Monday (tomorrow) is the most cruel and undemocratic move; crueler than the prorogation because when a ruler wants to dodge the bullet, they adjourn the parliament in this fashion.

He said it was normal for parliament to be adjourned indefinitely for the winter break not when heading for Easter holidays.

“I smell a rat. My suspicion is that he (Dr Thabane) is fighting back and taking the war to the other faction of his party that is against him. He wants to frustrate them without any fears that they will fight back by leading his removal in parliament. He wants to tie their hands behind their backs so they can helplessly be beaten, without any fears that they might retaliate.

“If you listen to him (Dr Thabane) carefully while addressing his rallies, he is soft-spoken and pretends to preach unity and peace because he knows very well that if he were to be harsh at the rallies, it would be the end of him the next day in parliament. Now that he is adjourning the parliament indefinitely, I suspect that his language during the weekend rallies is going to change. He is going to show them (new NEC) his true colours. Not only is he going to change the language but his actions too,” Mr Letsosa said.