The ABC has euthanized itself

THE embattled ruling All Basotho Convention (ABC) party might have politically euthanised itself this week when it ousted Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro as its deputy leader. If the hawks within the ABC had thought that Majoro’s removal as deputy leader would eventually result in his ouster as Prime Minister, then they horribly miscalculated. The man is not going anywhere for several reasons. If their plan to remove Majoro fizzles out, it would ultimately show the dire lack of strategic thinking within the Thomas Thabane camp that has been pushing to oust the Prime Minister for months. Parliament, where we expect the battle to be fought, has now gone on its traditional Christmas break. It will only resume business in February. What that means is that Majoro will have two months to plan and strategise the way forward, without the hawks who wanted to see his back touching him. And when Parliament eventually opens in February, its business will most likely focus on passing the national budget. But even if the MPs opposed to Majoro seek to block the passing of the budget, the Prime Minister will still have an option to run the government using a third of the national budget without breaking the law. It is most likely that Majoro could hang on to power until June 24 when Parliament will be dissolved. Thereafter, he will have 90 days to prepare a general election that will be due before the end of September. What this means is that the ABC could be stuck with a Prime Minister they cannot control. We therefore think that the ABC hawks might have celebrated Majoro’s departure as deputy leader prematurely thinking he would also leave office as Prime Minister. But Majoro remains firmly ensconced within the walls of the State House. The hawks within the ABC have no power nor mandate to remove him as Prime Minister. They have been politically neutered. Even after the ABC removed Majoro, the party remains badly fractured. The party remains split along factional lines, leaving it seriously weakened. The ABC is therefore slowly limping towards an electoral whitewash. It has an old leader who is way past his sell-by date. It is clear that Thabane no longer has the stamina to undertake a gruelling election campaign. He is now old and ineffectual. But instead of handing over the reins, Thabane still wants to hog the limelight. The ABC will pay for holding on to Thabane on the day of election next year. The day of reckoning is fast approaching for the ABC. What compounds matters for the ABC is that Thabane is surrounded by individuals who have little political traction outside the party. Individuals who could have seamlessly taken over have now all been hounded out of the party. Professor Nqosa Mahao, a respected academic, was hounded out of the party last year. Majoro, a respected technocrat, has also now fallen victim to the shenanigans within the party. While Majoro lacked the same charisma that Thabane had, he was respected by the international community. When he spoke, they listened. The ABC has now thrown all that away. It must now find a credible voice with a key election a few months away. It would be suicidal for the ABC to even think of putting Thabane as the face of the party. He is damaged goods. The sooner the party moves away from Thabane, the better its electoral fortunes might be, come election day next year.