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.

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The Masire Dialogue: Big

Agreement on Little Issues

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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.

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Opposition Rallies, Calls

for Protest and Strike

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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.

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Governing Party Picks Up

Last Parliamentary Seat

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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

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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

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Simultaneous Positive, Negative Signs

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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