Four new MPs to be sworn-in

MASERU – FOUR new MPs will be sworn-in in parliament on Monday following a decision by the High Court to reallocate seats that had been wrongly awarded to two opposition parties.

The swearing-in comes a week after the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) won a case in the High Court to reallocate the seats in parliament.

The IEC told the High Court that it had wrongly allocated three seats to the Democratic Congress (DC) and one to the Alliance of Democrats (AD) following last October’s general election.

The seats will be reallocated to Paul Masiu who is representing a coalition made up of the Areka Covenant Front for Development (Baena), Lesotho People’s Congress (LPC), and the Lesotho Workers Party (LWP).

The other three beneficiaries of the High Court order are ’Masetota Leshota of the Basotho National Party (BNP), ’Malichaba Lekhoaba of the Unite for Change (UFC), and Tefo Mapesela of the Basotho Patriotic Party (BPP).

Masiu told thepost this week that he will vote with the government once he is sworn into parliament.

Masiu, who will be officially referred to as the MP for the LPC which is leading the coalition, said he will not be on the side of the opposition because “they are all losers who failed to pass the much anticipated national reforms”.

He blamed DC leader Mathibeli Mokhothu, All Basotho Convention (ABC) leader Nkaku Kabi, the BNP leader Machesetsa Mofomobe and Advocate Lekhetho Rakuoane of the Popular Front for

Democracy (PFD) for “being part of the previous government that was the most useless in the history of Lesotho politics”.

“They were holding high-ranking positions in the past government and they failed Basotho dismally,” Masiu said.

He said he will support the government because they are new and deserve a chance to prove themselves.

“‘We are expecting to see the IEC writing a gazette so that the clerk summons us,” he said.

He said they will not shy away from demanding all their benefits starting from the first parliament sitting.

“Wrong people have been paid for no valid reason as the IEC had already asked for a reversal (of the appointment),” he said.

“The court’s judgement is clear that we have been members since October last year. We want all of our benefits and salaries.”

Each MP from these political parties is entitled to M22 500 each in sitting allowances, he said.

For the four MPs, the sitting allowances will balloon to M90 000 from October last year.

They also want all the salaries that they were supposed to get if they had landed in Parliament in October last year together with the M5 000 fuel allowances that they did not get in the last six months.

The IEC said it will replace three DC MPs, Moramang Moleleki, ’Masuthang Taole, and Nthati Ramohanyane who were erroneously allocated PR seats.

Also, the AD’s Lebohang Mochaba has to vacate his seat in parliament.

Before the swearing-in of the MPs, Mapesela rushed to the High Court to block it arguing that the four MPs did not have a right to cast their votes during the election of the Speaker of Parliament and his Deputy.

But he failed to block them.

And he was quick to mention that he will not support them where they go wrong.

Lekhoaba said they are disappointed that the IEC never called them for a meeting to discuss the discrepancies in the allocation of seats.

But it just called the parties that were wrongly allocated seats.

Lekhoaba said they expect to be sworn in when the National Assembly reopens.

She said they have a right to be MPs.

“The (people) voted for us to get those PR seats,’’ she argued.

She said they are going to fight tooth and nail to get their benefits starting from last year when the august House opened for the first time.

Lekhoaba said the IEC spotted the mistake it had made during the allocation of PR seats before parliament was opened.

But they went ahead and sworn-in the wrong MPs.

Mapesela, who said he will not hesitate to show when the government or the opposition is wrong, also said he would push for a full payment of their allowances, salaries and other entitlements starting from October last year.

“M150 multiplied by 150 days is M22 500. I want it,” he said.

He said it was his constitutional right to choose the Speaker of the National Assembly.

“Who said I was going to vote for (Tlohang) Sekhamane to make him the Speaker?” he said.

“We will have to vote again.”

Mapesela said he will not sympathise with the four MPs who have to vacate parliament.

He said this was done intentionally.

Nkheli Liphoto