SADC, OPPOSITION AND GOVERNMENT MEETINGS ON POLITICAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 MASERU 000161

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

FOR AF/S

E.O. 12958: DECL: 3/19/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM ASEC LT
SUBJECT: SADC, OPPOSITION AND GOVERNMENT MEETINGS ON POLITICAL
SITUATION MARCH 16 - 19, 2007

REF: (A) MASERU 160 (B) MASERU 149

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CLASSIFIED BY: June Carter Perry, Ambassador, EXEC , STATE.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)



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Summary
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1. (C) Over the past three and a half days, Ambassador Perry
has met with the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
Executive Secretary and his senior staff, the diplomatic corps
and all leaders of the opposition parties concerning the current
political crisis and stay-away occurring in Lesotho. The
purpose of the March 18 meeting with SADC was to seek their
facilitation/mediation with the opposition parties to avert a
stay-away which had been called for March 19-21. The purpose of
the stay-way in terms of actual objectives was not clear and a
later meeting on March 18 with all leaders of the opposition
parties did not shed further light on their proposed action.
The purpose, as discussed with the diplomatic community over the
past several days, is to protest what they perceive as the lack
of dialogue with the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD)
government and the allocation of proportional seats in
Parliament, but expected results remain unspecified. Donors,
beginning with a March 16 meeting, have emphasized to the
opposition that a stay-away would only hurt Basotho workers at
the lowest level who desperately need their jobs and would not
accomplish the political resolution desired; that could only be
done through established procedures. We learned early March 19
that the opposition had met with the SADC Executive Secretary
late on the day before and had been asked by SADC to call off
the stay-away. Negotiations would take time and there is no
clear positive result that could come from potentially violent
reactions during the stay-way. Donors found disturbing All
Basotho Convention (ABC) Leader Thomas Thabane's refusal to call
off the strike, and in also the intent of opposition supporters
to intimidate public transport drivers as well as private taxi
owners. We have, in various discussions, recommended that the
Government of Lesotho (GOL) reach out to the men and women on
the street through a public statement indicating its concern for
service delivery as well as its openness and willingness for
dialogue with various sectors of the Basotho population,
including the opposition. The promises made by ABC Thabane that
he would call for peace and stability have not proven true as
tires have been burned on various streets around Maseru, rocks
thrown at numerous individuals, and taxi drivers taken from
their burning vehicles and subsequently beaten. Post convened
an Emergency Action Committee (EAC) (septel) and continues to
update American citizens and mission staff of the situation.
Donors have been promised a briefing by the SADC Executive
Secretary concerning the organizations negotiations on the

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matter. End Summary.

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SADC Promised to Listen
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2. (C) During the March 19 meeting with Dr. Tomaz Salomao,
Executive Secretary of SADC, his Deputy and other SADC
officials, we brought to his attention the fact that there are,
according to opposition leaders, unresolved issues following the
February 2007 election according to opposition leaders. We
expressed our concern that peace and stability reign in order
for the people of Lesotho to carry out their normal activities
and for the international community to effectively continue its
development efforts in all sectors. I specifically raised the
question of what the opposition could define as an end result or
objective of a stay-away since their questions seemed to center
around the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) representational
system in Parliament and the alliance between the LCD and the
National Independent Party (the NIP). We further discussed a
potential role for SADC to stall the stay-away and to act as a
mediating body between the government and the opposition. Dr.
Salomao summarized the key points and said that he would raise
with the opposition leaders that day, March 19, this question of
what could be achieved by a stay-away which could in fact turn
violent. (Comment: The leader of the Monarchist Freedom Party
had told the diplomatic community several week ago that a
stay-away equaled "free shopping" (that is, a looting of stores
and businesses throughout the country). Dr. Salomao also
raised the question of striking in Maseru City and Maseru
District, and learned that, in fact, opposition parties had won
in that urban area as well as other towns in the country, but
remained a minority party. He asked if this situation might be
contained and upon learning that it is believed it could -- with
the proper intervention -- said that he would also raise this
with the opposition parties.


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The Obstinate Opposition
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3. (C) Late on Sunday, March 18, opposition party leaders, who
had requested a meeting with the diplomatic corps to air their
grievances, convened with Ambassadors from the United States,
China and Ireland as well as the Charge of the South African
High Commission, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
representative and the European Union (EU) Head of Delegation.
Thomas Thabane took the lead in making a presentation to the
international group and said that he was concerned that the
opposition had not had a dialogue with the government and that
questions remained about the MMP and particularly the fact that
no senators had been appointed from parties other than the LCD
under the cover of the NIP. He stated that the Minister of
Tourism, Mrs. Nts'inyi, who had lost her constituency had been
appointed a Senator since she was on the NIP list and had also
been appointed as Minister (a fact he found disturbing and one
that has been discussed freely in the press). When members of
the donor community pressed the opposition leaders further about
the grievances, Dr. Raditapole (member of parliament) and
General Lekhanya (Basotho National Party) stated they felt the
purpose of the MMP, which is to allow representation by smaller
political parties, had been misused by the LCD and they also
blamed the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) for accepting
a list of NIP candidates that had not been blessed by the 90
plus year old NIP leader, Mr. Manyeli, who was also present at
this meeting. General Lekhanya then held up a sheet of paper, a
chart which had been drawn up by the EU Head of Delegation,
showing what the actual proportional representation should have
been. The EU representative responded strongly to this and
stated that his chart was strictly hypothetical and would not
stand up in a court of law. (Comment: The role of the EU both
in the pre-electoral and post-electoral period has been somewhat
puzzling since the representative has seemed to make an effort
to demonstrate support of ABC Leader Thabane. Thabane had been
invited by the EU, without consulting other members of the donor
community, to a Chief of Mission (COM) breakfast meeting at his
home several weeks ago. The EU member had also been
specifically asked by the Irish Ambassador not to wear a yellow
tie, the symbol of the ABC party, to the opening of Parliament,
since he felt this could be inflammatory and partisan. However,
the Head of the EU not only wore a yellow tie, but a yellow suit
as well to the March 15 opening of Parliament. End Comment)

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Results?
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4. (C) During the March 18 meeting with opposition leaders, I
specifically asked Thabane what he expected to achieve with a
stay-away. It would only hurt the people most in need not only
of development aid but the poorest of the poor who needed their
jobs. He never fully responded to this, but said it was too
late to call off the strike. I said that all he had to do was
go on the radio and make a statement, as he had previously
promised the diplomatic corps he would do, to urge peace and
stability. Thabane said in turn that his followers wanted to
take to the streets of Maseru, and in order to appease them, he
had agreed to a stay-away. The UNDP representative also tried
to eek out of Thabane the specific objectives of the stay-away
and Thabane simply said this was "a part of our strategy."
Throughout this discussion, none of the leaders of the
opposition seemed to demonstrate any concern for the impact such
action would have on the citizenry. The various leaders did say
that the GOL Minister of Communications had been on the radio
earlier Sunday to say that workers were to report as usual and
that transportation drivers who did not carry out their duties
would have their permits rescinded. Thabane then demanded to be
on the radio saying that he must have equal time, and in his
broadcast, urged people to continue with the stay-away as
planned. After this discussion, the donors repeated the
importance of dialogue, peace and security for the good of the
country. Thabane and monarchist opposition leader Malepo
insisted that "they are trying to kill us and we will not be
insulted." They did confirm that they would meet the SADC
Secretariat following their meeting with the international

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community representatives.

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Donor/Ministerial Dialogue
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5. (C) It was agreed among the donor representatives that any
further information garnered from various sources would be
shared. Each mission had made provisions for transportation of
its employees, if it were safe to come to work on Monday, March

19. In a conversation with Lesotho's SADC Chair, Finance
Minister Timothy Thahane, on March 19, the U.S. Ambassador

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learned that the SADC Executive Secretary had briefed him both
on his meeting with us as well as his meeting with the
opposition leaders. According to Thahane, Dr. Salamao stated
that he also had raised very firmly with the opposition leaders
what they hoped to achieve in a stay-away, an action which could
result in instability. He did not receive an answer, just as
the diplomatic corps did not receive an answer. Some citizens
believe ABC wants to show that it can shut down Maseru City.
However, this would not achieve any objective in addressing the
MMP issue nor lack of more opposition seats in the Senate.
According to the Minister of Finance, the issue that the
opposition was raising could not be resolved in Parliament, but
by law had to go before the Independent Electoral Commission.
He reported this information had been communicated to SADC. He
believed that SADC could act as a facilitator to urge peace and
security and use of the legal system to resolve the question; he
planned to discuss this further with Dr. Salomao.


6. (C) From Sunday evening, and into Monday, post has received
reports that opposition followers had not received directives to
cease activities and in fact had begun burning tires across the
roads, spilling oil making it impossible for vehicles to proceed
and throwing rocks at various individuals. There were also
reports of shots being fired in two areas of the city located
near the Lesotho Sun Hotel where the SADC Ministerial Council is
to take place March 21-23, and where the SADC delegation has
held a series of meetings. During a conversation with the Irish
Ambassador, we found out that he had spoken with Minister of
Civil Service Sekatle and that Minister had indicated the
opposition could not use the civil service as a pawn in this
stay-away. He reportedly agreed that the dialogue should take
place. However, according to Minister Thahane, the opposition
has yet to make a request to the Prime Minister for such a
meeting. The Irish Ambassador did inform Sekatle that the
Diplomatic Corps had, through the former Dean (the South African
High Commissioner),requested its own meeting with the Prime
Minister and had not received a response. (Note: According to
the South African High Commissioner, the Prime Minister at first
said "No" because he was afraid the diplomatic corps was coming
to present criticisms of the 2007 national elections. However,
the High Commissioner explained that the meeting was for the
purposes of (1) congratulating the party on its victory, and (2)
to encourage dialogue with others in Parliament. End Note)
Minister Sekatle did not seem to be aware that the international
community had made this request, but we do not find that unique
since communication between various branches of government and
individuals does not always occur. Dr. Pontso Sekatle, spouse
of Minister Sekatle, and herself Minister of Local Government,
reportedly called the UNDP representative angrily denouncing the
involvement of donors in trying to assist in the dialogue. We
note that Dr. Sekatle is well known for her outbursts on many
issues and do not find her statement unusual; she has regularly
irritated her fellow members of Cabinet, but because of her
closeness to the Prime Minister, she has been tolerated by them.
Her husband, also a member of the Cabinet, is more balanced and
rational in his approach to issues. Furthermore, the
international community has repeatedly stressed to the GOL and
opposition parties its non-interference in internal affairs, but
for its desire to ensure peace, stability and the democractic
process.

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Post's EAC Meeting
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7. (C) Given the situation, post held an Emergency Action
Committee (EAC) meeting March 19 to review information from all
sources and will follow up on its previous security and consular
notices issued March 16 to alert American citizens of the
situation (septel). The Ambassador is to participate in a
second meeting with the SADC Executive Secretary for an update
on his efforts to mediate/facilitate resolution of the stay-away
and to ascertain the response from the opposition parties
concerning use of the legal route to resolve their procedural
questions.


8. (C) Comment: We reiterated in conversations today with
Minister Thahane and Acting Foreign Minister Phooko the
potential value of a full government statement indicating its
willingness to address questions by any party members and to
signal its openness to dialogue. Such action may help to calm
the waters since clearly the oppositon, especially the ABC and
Monarchist leaders, have not followed through on their
commitment to urge stability and call off the stay-away. We
have heard through various sources that a number of workers did
not come into town out of fear and that the taxi drivers were
being intimidated, beaten and/or vehicles set aflame. The
police commissioner did make a statement on the radio saying
that her forces would be patrolling the streets to deal with the
situation. We understand that as soon as the police put out one

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fire another is started. They have, it seems, been successful
in clearing the streets of oil. All U.S. Mission staff
personnel who can be reached have received transportation via
Embassy vehicles. Others, who have experienced road blocks or
tire burnings have been told to stay out of harm's way and
remain at home in order to avoid any injury. We will continue
to work with the international community and SADC in hopes that
the stay-away can be stopped today, particularly in light of the
need for dialogue and the mid-week SADC Ministerial which one
hopes will proceed peacefully. End Comment
PERRY