[Breaking News] Shao wins candidacy case

MASERU – ZHEN YU Shao, the first Mosotho of Chinese descent to actively participate in Lesotho’s politics, has won a constitutional case that challenged his candidacy for general election.

The Constitutional Court ruled today that the constitution or any law in Lesotho does not debar Shao from seeking a political post.

The Christian Advocates and Ambassadors Association and six individuals has asked the court to declare Shao unsuitable to stand for election in Lesotho because his country of origin, China, has no legal provision for a naturalized Mosotho to seek a political position.

They association also argued that Shao is not fluent in spoken and written Sesotho and English languages.

The complainants also argued that Shao’s political success would encourage the stampede of Chinese in Lesotho to get naturalized and seek political jobs.

Shao will be the first Chinese-African to stand for election in Africa.

The court has ruled that Shao could stand for the elections because he qualifies as a citizen of Lesotho.

Shao, standing as an independent candidate in Tsolo constituency after his former party, the Movement for Economic Change (MEC) rejected his political advances, is leading the newly formed Basotho Pele Association (BPA).

Two weeks ago 250 people from the MEC and the All Basotho Convention (ABC) defected to him at his final rally ahead of election.

His entry into local politics has been met with disbelief and sometimes outrage by others who seem puzzled why a Mosotho of Chinese descent would want to seek political power.

Nkheli Liphoto