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Lesotho has until mid-2019 to comply with Troika’s decisions

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Southern African Development Community (SADC) has sent a strong warning to anyone derailing Lesotho’s reform process. The country has agreed to embark on political and security reforms with the aim of bringing about stability.

SADC has given the mountain Kingdom until May 2019 to comply with decisions taken at the Troika summit held on the sidelines of the Namibia summit.

Straight from the SADC summit in Windhoek, Lesotho Prime Minister Tom Thabane had to respond to accusations of an attempt to derail the reform process.

Visibly agitated he did not mince his words regarding those who may hinder it. “We are inviting every person who feels that they have something to say about this process, and who has a necessary locustandi to come and do it. If somebody doesn’t want to come, we are going to apply the principle of majority rule. If more people want something and one doesn’t want it, we will follow the majority opinion,” says Lesotho’s Prime Minister Tom Thabane.

Thabane was equally agitated when quizzed about allegations that the government would manoeuvre the constitutional requirement that demands a two thirds majority. “You are busy telling me what the opposition say, they have not told me that, where do you get this thing from?”

For reforms to take effect, a referendum or a two-thirds majority, may be required. The opposition is hoping it will play a part in the final decision.

“When you get to constitutional reforms, what is going to happen, as government you don’t have a two third majority and you think you are going to go ahead with the constitutional reforms, indeed we are going to go ahead with the constitutional reforms. We are actually amending; we are not overhauling the Constitution. So issues like floor crossing are amendments, which is a clause that needs a simple majority in Parliament. And it is going to go ahead as planned,” says Lesotho’s Foreign Affairs Minister Lesego Makgothi.

South African Justice Dikgang Moseneke has been assigned to assist with the mediation. Moseneke presented a report at a recently concluded SADC Troika meetingafe.

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