Lesotho's Prime Minister set to be sentenced

For Lesotho, that small state in the interior of South Africa, the COVID-19 crisis is yet another addition to a situation of widespread crisis and political instability. Although the political climate has been irreversibly unsettled since January, this instability is rooted in an event that occurred in June 2017. The event in question is also a serious one, as it concerns the death of the former wife of the Prime Minister, Thomas Thabane, and suspicions regarding the author of her death. Lipolelo Thabane was shot dead near the capital of Lesotho in June 2017, just two days before the electoral victory of her ex-husband, with whom she had been in dispute over the divorce she refused in 2012, and in which her privileges as first lady had been recognised. Theories of possible intellectual authorship by the Prime Minister and his new wife, Maesaiah Thabane, emerged from the outset, and decisions such as the withdrawal of police commissioner Holomo Molibeli who had hinted in that direction only fed them. Holomo himself has now requested a review of this decision before the Supreme Court, following the events that have taken place since the beginning of the year. 

The new period as head of the country that Thomas Thabane commenced in mid-2017 - he had already held the post of prime minister between 2012 and 2015 - did not begin in the strongest possible way, also taking into account that, despite his party's victory, the All Basotho Convention (ABC) had to agree on a coalition with three other parties in order to govern. These were the Democratic Alliance (AD), the Basotho National Party (BNP) and the Reformed Congress of Lesotho (RCL). The shadow of suspicion that has hung over Thabane during these two and a half years of government has meant that the coalition has been marked by fragility, as even his own party has not remained fully loyal to the prime minister. In early January, a warrant for the arrest of Maesaiah Thabane and her subsequent release on bail triggered a series of political movements that have been resolved over the past month.

Following the arrest of his current wife and his own subpoena, Tom Thabane, 80, announced that he would be leaving office at the end of July due to lack of energy and vitality. This fact, together with the allusion to his political immunity at the trial hearing, set off all the alarms. From the opposition that leads the Democratic Congress (DC) party, but also from his own party, pressure began to be put on Thabane for his immediate resignation, something that the octogenarian president rejected outright. A tug-of-war between all the parties began in order to force the resignation of the Lesotho leader and form a new government that would also be able to deal with the threat of the coronavirus.

With the excuse of the coronavirus, the Prime Minister declared in March the suspension of the National Assembly for three months, due to the approval of a law that denied him the possibility of calling elections if he lost a motion of confidence, a possibility that was on the table given the interest in the departure of the Prime Minister even in his own party. This suspension was overturned by the Constitutional Court following a multi-party appeal, prompting Thabane to deploy the army in the country's capital, Maseru. Thabane indicated that this move was being made to ensure the security and confinement to which the country had been subjected since late March. This decision put South Africa on alert, as the geographical situation of Lesotho forces the African power to keep the country, which is embedded in its territory, in a controlled and peaceful situation.

The growing concern in Pretoria led to the sending of a diplomatic delegation to Lesotho to defuse the political situation. The South African delegation reached a compromise between the parties of the coalition in power to guarantee a dignified and safe exit for the president. This communiqué reflected the concerns expressed by Thomas Thabane, who had suggested that he could withdraw before July provided that the right conditions were in place. Seeking these conditions was the main objective of the delegation sent by Pretoria, but so was achieving the withdrawal of the army, which it also obtained. At that time, the political pressure on the Prime Minister was already at its peak, both from the opposition and from his own coalition and from the more immediate international environment, led by South Africa. A political tug-of-war began then, which has been resolved in recent days.

On Friday 8 May, a vote of no confidence on Prime Minister Thabane took place in the National Assembly, in which 33 of the MPs of his ABC party participated, together with the main opposition party, the DC, a vote that saved Thabane from his forced departure, but his position was already condemned. The following Monday, the president of the National Assembly, Sephiri Motanyane, announced the fall of the government after the withdrawal of support from the three small parties that held ABC in power. An agreement was also announced between ABC and the main opposition party, DC, for a new coalition government to be headed by the hitherto finance minister Moeketsi Majoro. 

Thomas Thabane will continue as interim prime minister until 22 May, when he will have to leave office, putting an end to months of political instability. He will then have to face the judicial process to clarify the responsibility for his ex-wife's death, since according to DC spokesperson Montoeli Masoetsa, the issues related to the judicial process to which Thabane will have to be submitted, have not been part of the negotiations between the two main parties to form this new government that will take shape in the coming weeks. The fact that the agreement has been reached between the two parties that have shared out the government over the last few years gives Lesotho's politics a hopeful short-term future, something that, given its recent history, should not be taken lightly. What is clear is that Thomas Thabane is on trial.