‘Mantšali Phakoana
The political blame game between the government and opposition leaders in the 11th parliament has potential to hinder national reforms and compromise peace and stability in the country, political analysts have cautioned.
The analysts’ warning comes after the government expressed fears that the reforms may not see the light of day owing to lack of commitment by the opposition in seeing the process through.
Speaking at a press conference last week, deputy prime minister Nthomeng Majara said the government was worried by the way the opposition leaders were dragging their feet over the reforms.
Majara, who is also the minister of justice, law and parliamentary affairs, noted that the opposition mostly gave lame excuses whenever the government made efforts to hold meetings to discuss the reforms.
She noted that they had planned a consensus building workshop prior to briefing the Senate, but the opposition kept on postponing.
Majara said of late, the leaders claimed they were busy preparing for the September 29 local government elections.
“Mistakes were made by the 10th parliament on the Omnibus Bill but we never blame them (opposition). All we aim to do is remedy these mistakes and do the right thing,” she indicated.
She added that after all political parties in the national assembly reached a consensus on the passage of the 10th Amendment to the Constitution Bill – known as Omnibus Bill – on June 22 this year, there was hope that both government and opposition had one objective.
But despite this, Majara said, all her efforts to hold meetings with the opposition have failed.
The government had proposed dismantling the Bill into three parts: a bill for laws that parliament could pass with a simple majority; another for laws that would require amending entrenched clauses in the constitution by a two-thirds majority in Parliament; and a third that would impact doubly entrenched clauses and require approval by referendum.
On the other hand, the opposition had demanded that it be passed in full as was when the life of the last 10th Parliament ended last year.
The reforms programme that the country started pursuing since 2017 were designed to fundamentally change critical aspects in the country: the judiciary, legislature, security sector, public service and the media, to mention just a few.
This effort initiated by the SADC seeks to address the cyclical political instability in the country.
In an interview with theReporter this week, National University of Lesotho (NUL) associate professor Motlamelle Kapa blamed both government and the opposition for lacking political to implement the reforms.
“The main problem here is limited political will from both government and the opposition in the implementation of the national reforms.
“All they are good at is playing the blame game, thereby leading the country into this kind of uncertainty,” Professor Kapa noted.
He indicated it was by luck that for some time now the military in a way had gotten out of politics but it may not be for long if the reforms are not implemented.
Professor Kapa also blamed the current opposition for failing to raise their concerns with the National Reforms Authority (NRA) at the commencement of the reforms process during the 10th parliament.
Again, he said, the opposition had rejected a lot of provisions in the Omnibus Bill, which were believed to be in the bench marking process and well researched as per the NRA.
“Key among issues which personally troubled me was them (opposition) rejecting the NRA’s proposal to have the appointive powers of the prime minister.
“Now, they deliberately delay the whole reforms process by taking their own time to present the Bill before parliament for it to be debated and passed.
“But they did not care about all that until last minute when the 10th parliament had to be dissolved on account of constitutional proceedings,” he said.
He added that on the part of the government, the expectation was that when they came in power to October last year, they would speed up the reforms process, while consulting key stakeholders.
However, the government could not move with the expected sense of urgency and that was proved by its delay to open parliament, “rather waiting for the normal parliamentary calendar, instead of opening very early in January.”
In addition to that, he said, the national assembly could have not closed for the winter recess and treated the reforms as a matter of agency.
“Now that the SADC Summit (to be held on August 17) is approaching fast, we hear them playing the blame game; it seems as if they want to up the game just to appease SADC. These reforms are not for SADC but for Basotho and this country.
“If we want to get to the bottom of Lesotho’s challenges, we have to implement the reforms the way the NRA had proposed. The authority played a very critical role in laying the foundation of the reforms.” Professor Kapa said.
For his part, Dr Tlohang Letsie, also from the NUL, said shifting blame was an easy and convenient approach which must be avoided in finding solutions to the country’s problems.
Dr Letsie also blamed the opposition for sabotaging the government because they do not want them to take credit for the reforms’ success.
He cited that the opposition continues to demonstrate lack of patriotism for the country.
It was unfair for the opposition to blame the prime minister as being silent simply because he had the power to assign his ministers to certain tasks, he said.
“These reforms are not for Matekane; if he chose to dedicate one of his ministers to handle reforms there is nothing wrong with that.
“Opposition is just playing political games; we have witnessed politicians playing such games for a long time in this country.
“They believe if the government makes remarkable process in the implementation of the reforms, they would take credit for it and that is what they do not want. All they want is that whatever good achieved be achieved by their government not any other,” Dr Letsie noted.
He further stated that it was very unfortunate that during the blame-games among political leaders, it is Basotho and the country whose interests are compromised.
The Basotho National Party (BNP) leader, Mofomobe, this week said the government was panicking because there is nothing notable that Matekane would be presenting before the SADC Summit this month.
However, Mofomobe said he could not sign the agreement on the passage of the Bill because the prime minister lacked both leadership and ownership on the reforms.
He added that there was lack of spirit of oneness from both government and opposition.
“Now Nthomeng is using me as a scapegoat; that is nonsensical because we asked them to bring the Bill that was supposed to be passed by the 10th parliament but they refused,” he said, adding that there was no way he could be accused of sabotaging the reforms when he had filed a motion in the national assembly pushing to speed up on reforms.
He further stated that it was wrong for the government to continue hiring and dismissing civil servants, “while we believe the reforms are aimed to address and ensure they are done with transparency.”
“We are equal party leaders with the prime minister. It is inappropriate that every time he has to engage with us, he dedicates his powers to his deputy, in his presence,” Mofomobe noted, citing sometimes he had failed to attend meetings at short notice.
He blamed Majara for expecting them to do things when it suits her and not when it was convenient for both sides.
“When we initiate to meet with her, she claims she is busy. Now that we are busy with elections and doing what our parties have assigned for us, she targets that as the best time for meetings,” he added.
Basotho Action Party (BAP), Professor Nqosa Mahao also accused the deputy prime minister of playing to the gallery and having the audacity to lie in the public space.
He noted the BAP has always been committed to reforms and does not have any reason to sabotage the process.
Professor Mahao admitted the BAP had suggested the postponement of one of the meetings as there were pressing issues such as preparations for the local government that needed their full attention.
“We have since been pushing government to speed up the reforms process. We do not have reasons to sabotage them now.
“Some of us are given mandate by our parties so if they need our attention, we would have to attend to them. That is what we have been doing now ahead of the elections. I do not see anything wrong with that, he said.
Speaking on the same subject, Popular Front for Democracy (PFD) leader, Lekhetho Rakuoane said it would not be fair for the prime minister to generalise ‘lack of commitment’ from the opposition while it comprises different political parties.
He said only three them had signed the agreement and generalisation would not serve justice for them.
“Some of the opposition leaders refused to sign the agreement but the DC (Democratic Congress), BAP and PFD had signed. And during the same day of the signing, we suggested a meeting to map the way forward.
“Apart from that, it is incorrect for the government to call for a special meeting without giving us proposed segregated bills. “Lastly for some of us, preparing for local government elections is also part of our crucial tasks,” Advocate Rakuoane said.
