LESOTHO POLITICAL UPDATE: NEW POLITICAL PARTY LAUNCHED

UNCLAS MASERU 000336 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF/S MATTHEW SHIELDS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM PHUM LT SUBJECT: LESOTHO POLITICAL UPDATE: NEW POLITICAL PARTY LAUNCHED REF: MASERU 306 ¶1. Summary: Disgruntled former members of Lesotho's main opposition political party, the All Basotho Convention (ABC), held a political rally on November 9, 2008 and indicated their intention to form a new political party in the coming days. On November 2, 2008, the ABC celebrated its second anniversary since its inception. The party has been beset with controversy from the onset. Party members who quit the ABC recently are reported to be from 21 different constituencies. End summary. QOn Sunday, November 9, 2008, former Publicity Secretary and Member of the ABC Executive Committee, Lehlohonolo Ts'ehlana, and former Chairperson of the Stadium Area Constituency in Maseru, Moeketsi Tsatsanyane, announced that they, and other members of the ABC from several other constituencies, had decided to establish a new political party to counter the prevailing political situation in which, in their view, political parties lack internal democratic norms and values. Tsatsanyane indicated that they quit the ABC because of their concern that the leadership of the partyQ not committed to hold a general conference which would pave the way for Executive Committee Elections. (Note: The Interim Executive Committee was appointed - not elected - in November 2006 just three months prior to the February 2007 snap elections. End note). This created concern among some party members who desired elections. ¶3. Local private radio station, People's Choice FM, reported that the rally organized by the duo was poorly attended. Analysts on local radio call-in programs (which are a de facto barometer for measuring public opinion) openly criticized Tsehlana and Tsatsanyane of demonstrating a propensity to hopscotch from one party to another. Both politicians were members of the Basotho Congress Party (BCP). When a new splinter group emerged in 1997 and formed the current governing party, the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD),Ts'ehlana joined that new party. However, he was dismissed by the LCD Disciplinary Committee in 2006. ¶4. In 2006, both Tsehlana and Tsatsanyane joined the ABC, which was seen to be beleaguered with controversy from its inception due to the number of disgruntled and `greedy' politicians from the LCD, who joined the ABC with the hope of winning parliamentary seats or being elevated to prominent positions in the party. ¶5. Comment: The launching of a new political party will bring the total number of parties which have registered with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to 20. There is only one political party, the Basotho African National Congress (BANC) which was formed in 2007 but has not registered with the IEC. The majority of ordinary citizens and local analysts believe that with a population of about 1.88 million, there are already too many political parties. Local observers argue that the launching of this new party demonstrates greed for power and leadership given the history of Tsatsanyane and Ts'ehlana of joining parties and quitting or get dismissed. The new party is expected to be launched in the coming days. End comment. NOLAN