1.5 Historical Political Development Pattern in Lesotho
1.5.11 Lesotho’s Coalition Government: 2012
Lesotho’s coalition government was formed in 2012 with the three political parties of ABC, LCD and BNP. However, in February 2012, prior to the May elections, internal feuds within the ruling party resulted in the split within the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) party and the formation of the Democratic Congress (DC) with a breakaway majority of 45 seats.
At the time, the Speaker in parliament decided that the DC was now the ruling party.
However, the 2012 election results placed the DC as the main opposition party with 48 seats out of 120 in parliament. LCD won 26 seats, while the All Basotho Convention (ABC) party got 30 and the Basotho National Party (BNP) got 5 seats. These three parties formed a coalition government under the leadership of Prime Minister Tommas Motsoahae Thabane, leader of the ABC. The formation of a coalition government was intended to be more inclusive and to reduce violence. In effect it has contributed to further instability and lack of political unity within the coalition parties, resulting in ministerial reshuffling, and outbreaks of violence towards government appointed post holders and changes of policy without engaging the public.
In March 2014 there was an attempted vote of no confidence in the coalition government leader, which was placed in the national assembly by opposition party members. That unprecedented action failed due to improperly followed procedures. Following that, in May 2014 two of the ABC members from the ruling coalition government changed “complexion”, by crossing the floor in parliament and joining the opposition Democratic Congress (DC), floor. The Deputy Prime Minister and leader of LCD held a press conference briefing in June 2014 where the leader of LCD officially announced that the party was pulling out of the coalition government, but that he and other LCD Ministers would remain as cabinet ministers in the Executive Branch. He stated that they had had a communication breakdown
24 with the Prime Minister, who, as the ABC leader, seemed to be making decisions and other changes without involving the other leaders of coalition. In view of this, the LCD leader announced that they would continue to approach other parties with the intention of collaborating. The LCD had, however, entered into agreement with the DC as an opposition party, with the intention of forming another new coalition government. On a similar note, the Prime Minister and leader of the coalition government held a press conference where he clarified that he had written a letter to the king in early June 2014, asking him to prorogue parliament for nine months, meaning that it would resume in 2015. He stated that the reason for such a prorogue was to enable the three leaders of the coalition government to resolve their conflict of interest in issues of governance. In the meantime the Namibian president arrived in Lesotho with the intention of holding a dialogue that would lead to a resolution of the conflict amongst the coalition government leaders.
At the time of writing this thesis, Lesotho was experiencing political instability that has led to the ongoing preparations for snap elections, to be held in 2015, as a followup to the 2012 elections which brought in the coalition government (see Chapter Eight). This was a resolution brought in by SADC to resolve the instability and political challenges in August 2014 that had resulted in the attempted coup by the military. The latter had raided some police stations in the urban Maseru District, confiscated their weapons and brutally assaulted those who were on duty, with one officer being killed. The military then surrounded the State House of the prime minister, the leader of the ABC party, who then went to the residence of the coalition BNP leader. These leaders sought protection in South Africa, followed by the commissioner of police and other citizens seeking similar refuge. All the local radio station transmitters were closed. The Lesotho coalition government had collapsed for about a week. The police services were unavailable countrywide and consequently the correctional services and the judiciary, also linked to the police services in their daily operations, also stopped working (Zihlangu, 2014). This meant that security was jeopardised in Lesotho. These tensions began the day after a termination of service letter was issued to the commander of the Lesotho Defence Force, who refused to resign (Zihlangu, 2014).
Durng these occurances the LDF spokesperson announced over different radio stations that the military had carried out a successful operation where they had managed to confiscate
25 illegal weapons from the police stations. The military had attacked the commissioner of police several times at his residence. Speculation by citizens on different radio stations suggested that the operation followed an allegation that the weapons had been intended to kill innocent opposition political party members who were protesting against the decision of the closing of parliament by the prime minister. At present, the incumbent prime minister seems to be committed in fighting acts of corruption, apathy and laziness in government.
There have been several incidents regarding the exposure of government officials and the politicians who are involved in corruption, where they have been taken to the courts of law where justice has been implemented. In his proclamation, Makoa (2014) suggests that the present coalition government has to work hard as an alternative to the ‘Big man’s rule’ (the one dominant party by former Prime Minister Mosisili) by ensuring discipline and the goal of political maturity that will involve the masses of the population in policy and decision making. Makoa’s further aspirations are that the coalition government addresses corruption, roots out nepotism and patrimonialism, which propel inequality and poverty;
and that it rules differently from the past regimes, thus restoring “citizens’ confidence in government” (Makoa, 2014, p. 109).
It can be seen from this catalogue of events that Lesotho is a small country with a fragile political party system that is marked by faction fighting and characterised by multiple party splits. This also shows the weakness of the opposition parties and their struggles for power, a more frequent occurence just before holding national assembly elections. This calls into question the extent to which members of parliament are accountable to the electorate.
From the political history of Lesotho, it is clear that democracy is a fragile vulnerable process, it undergoes changes from time to time and it requires active civil society with informed citizens that are able to critically analyse the situation around them and make informed choices, especially during general elections when they are required to participate in political life and effect changes.
The implications of political migration (splitting of parties) for democracy, and how and where it is done, should also be considered because this leaves markers of unfairness and betrayal in the perceptions of the voters; hence there is declining public trust in political activities or in constituency members and their parties. It is upon this basis of mistrust that I investigated, in-depth, what people understand about the concepts of democracy,
26 citizenship rights and responsibilities, because the modern democratic process is different from the nation’s traditional heritage of governance.
There has been a paradigm shift of political roles, from the traditional chiefs to the elected leaders, after the local government structures that were put in place in 2005 (discussed in Chapter Three). Most of the functions that were performed by the chiefs have shifted to the elected councillors (modern leaders). The chiefs’ roles have been narrowed to those of providing safety and security for their people, maintaining order and acting as official witnesses in respect of their people. This has caused great confusion among the rural Basotho who give more recognition to the action of chiefs in relation to their entire needs and interests, for example, the allocation of land, which is now done by elected leaders.
Although this research aims to provide insights that could lead to recommendations for civic education in Lesotho, there are limitations to the study which are discussed below.