LESOTHO CONTRADICTIONS: TALKS ADVANCE, OPPOSITION ANNOUNCES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MASERU 000384 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF/S E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM ASEC PHUM LT SUBJECT: LESOTHO CONTRADICTIONS: TALKS ADVANCE, OPPOSITION ANNOUNCES PROTESTS REF: MASERU 379 MASERU 00000384 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. SUMMARY: Head of the Southern African Development Community's (SADC) mediation delegation and former President of Botswana Masire successfully concluded the first round of talks between Lesotho's governing and opposition parties on July 1. On the same day, however, Lesotho's largest opposition party, the All Basotho Convention (ABC) held a rally at which party leader Thomas Thabane harshly criticized the GOL and the Lesotho Defense Forces (LDF) for alleged surreptitious arrests and mistreatment of its supporters. Thabane announced a protest and work stoppage for July 5 to pressure the GOL on this issue. Meanwhile, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) announced that the governing Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) had won a long awaited by-election at Makhaleng constituency No. 45 on July 2. END SUMMARY. -------------- The Masire Dialogue: Big Agreement on Little Issues -------------- ¶2. (U) At a press conference on July 1, head of the Southern African Development Community's (SADC) mediation delegation and former President of Botswana Sir Ketumile Masire announced that the first round of dialogue between Lesotho's governing and opposition parties was successfully completed. On the sticky procedural question of when issues related to the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) model would be addressed, the stakeholders agreed that those issues would be raised immediately after the resolution of ongoing election-related court cases. ¶3. (U) The stakeholders (political parties plus civil society organizations) also concluded that a new mechanism to resolve Lesotho's MMP issues in future elections should be established. Masire urged all stakeholders to work jointly for Lesotho's national interests and uphold the rule of law in order to ensure peace, security, and stability. He thanked the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),the primary financial sponsor of his mission, for its support of the dialogue process. -------------- Opposition Rallies, Calls for Protest and Strike -------------- ¶4. (U) Meanwhile, the All Basotho Convention, Lesotho's main opposition party, held a rally on July 1 in party leader Thomas Thabane's home constituency of Ha Abia near Maseru. In his address, Thabane condemned the GOL and its security apparatus for recent "abductions" and "cruel acts of torture" of ABC supporters. He labeled the recent disappearance of a number of ABC supporters as a deliberate and conscious crackdown on the opposition by the GOL. ¶5. (U) In his speech, Thabane stated that a protest march to the Prime Minister's office would be held on July 5 to pressure the GOL on the "abduction" issue. He added that if Prime Minister does not respond to the protesters' demands, his supporters together with the ABC-allied Lesotho Workers Party (LWP) will stage a sit-in protest outside of the PM's office until July 8. He stated that the July 5 protest would be accompanied by a work stoppage and called on public transport associations to transport only those who will attend the rally on that day -- not those traveling to work. -------------- Governing Party Picks Up Last Parliamentary Seat -------------- ¶6. (U) Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) Public Relations Manager Rethabile Pholo stated at a press conference on July 2 that the governing LCD party had won the long awaited by-election at Makhaleng constituency No. 45. These by-elections were necessitated by the death of a candidate after the candidate registration period and prior to the February 2007 elections. Voter turnout was reported to be 43.7%. The votes were tallied as follows: Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) - 2,165 MASERU 00000384 002.2 OF 002 All Basotho Convention (ABC) - 1,585 National Independent Party (NIP) - 304 Basotholand Congress Party (BCP) - 282 Basotho National Party (BNP) - 262 Alliance of Congress Parties (ACP) - 71 Marematlou Freedom Party (MFP) - 51 Basotho Batho Democratic Party (BBDP) - 47 -------------- Simultaneous Positive, Negative Signs -------------- ¶7. (SBU) COMMENT: The notable success of this round of SADC-mediated talks is that all parties stayed until the conclusion and maintained civility. The agreements concluded among stakeholders, however, were regarding procedural issues of how to conduct further talks and how to study Lesotho's political situation, not on actual remedies of perceived grievances. Meanwhile, dark allegations of abuse by the LDF and other security agencies continue to provide an emotional rallying point for the opposition movement. The planned ABC protest on July 5 carries the potential to once again disrupt life in Maseru. Maseru's taxi associations, traditionally strong supporters of the opposition, rallied behind the ABC during a two-day "stay-away" following the February 2007 elections, and are likely to do so again. The governing LCD party's quiet victory dance after clinching its final parliamentary seat might be short lived as the nation's slow-burn political fires continue to smolder. END COMMENT. MURPHY