The Deputy Prime Minister also Leader of the House, Mr. Mathibeli Mokhothu says the Parliament has never dragged its feet on enacting the Eleventh Amendment Bill which has attracted not only the attention of Basotho but even international organizations.

Mr. Mokhothu said this when speaking over the motion on the declaration of the state of emergency and recall of Parliament in the National Assembly on Wednesday.

He said some of Basotho have a perception that the Parliament dragged its feet deliberately to sabotage the Eleventh Amendment Bill, saying people should understand the dynamics of Parliament and that it works in collaboration with the Senate.

Mr. Mokhothu also highlighted that they needed to be cautious when dealing with the Eleventh Amendment Bill to avoid being in a hurry in case they would commit mistakes.

The Leader of the House also noted that Lesotho being a democratic state, the Eleventh Amendment Bill needed to go through all the stages including the public views before being enacted into law.

However, he stated that during the process, the Prime Minister as Head of government ought to be allowed to execute his executive powers bestowed on him by the constitution.

”All the arms of the state are accountable to the Prime Minister who has been given the mandate by Basotho during the elections,” he highlighted.

Mr. Mokhothu made an example that the Prime Minister should be allowed to select Chief Justice, saying by doing so he will not be politicizing the judiciary, but will only be executing his constitutional powers.

He clarified that saying the judiciary is independent does not mean that it should not be accountable to the Prime Minister, saying if there was a backlog of cases in the courts of law, Prime Minister is the one who will have to be held accountable to the nation.

The Deputy Prime Minister said Prime Minister is elected based on the manifesto he promised to the electorate and that he has to select army Commander, Commissioner of Police, Commissioner of Warders and National Security Services (NSS) Director among those recommended by the nation.

He was seconded by Minister of Law and Justice, Adv. Lekhetho Rakuoane who said the recalling of Parliament was historic in nature and it is for the first time it is done in the country.

Adv. Rakuoane said the national reforms have been a process which needs to be successfully completed and not be left halfway.

The Minister of Law and Justice acknowledged that Lesotho has been supported financially by some international organizations to carry out the reforms process, saying if not completed, it will tarnish Lesotho’s relations with the international community.

”Lesotho like other countries, its economy has been left depleted by the impact of COVID-19 and even left worse by the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine and therefore need financial support from other countries,” he stressed.

He said some Basotho were sceptical that if the state of emergency would be declared, it would mean that people would be restricted from moving around, saying this time that was not the case as it is aimed at improving and protecting the people’s human rights.

All the Parliamentarians spoke in support of the recalling of parliament by His Majesty King Letsie III empathizing the importance of completing the Eleventh amendment to the constitution ahead of the October 7 elections.

Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Ms. Lebohang Ramohlanka stated that the notification of the recall of Parliament by His Majesty was made late on Tuesday, hence the late notification of Members of Parliament to report on duty on Wednesday morning.

She, therefore, suspended the day’s business in order to bring a supplementary order paper into the house for the members to acknowledge and appreciate the Declaration of the State of Emergency by the Prime Minister and the Recall of the 10th Parliament by the His Majesty the King.

The house was unable to complete the Eleventh Amendment to the constitution when it was forced to be dissolved on July 13 this year as its five-year term was over.

Source: LENA 24/08/2022