VZCZCXRO2654
PP RUEHRN
DE RUEHMR #0176/01 0811558
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 221558Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY MASERU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2794
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEHMR/AMEMBASSY MASERU 3145

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 MASERU 000176 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR AF/S 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  3/22/2017 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM PINR PHUM SADC ZI LT
SUBJECT: GOL DEFENDS ELECTORAL PROCEDURES 
 
REF: (A) MASERU 161 
 
MASERU 00000176  001.2 OF 005 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: June Carter Perry, Ambassador, EXEC , STATE. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
----------- 
Summary 
----------- 
 
¶1.  (C) The Government of Lesotho (GOL) called an emergency 
donors meeting on March 21 to discuss its views of the tactics 
used by the opposition parties, particularly by the All Basotho 
Convention (ABC) party led by Thomas Thabane.  The meeting was 
convened by the Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Dr. 
Motloheloa Phooko, who was accompanied by the new Ministers of 
Trade, Mr. Popane Lebesa, and Justice, Mrs. Mpeo Mahase Moiloa. 
Speaking on behalf of the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD), 
Dr. Phooko wanted to present his party's view of the 
opposition's actions during the opening of Parliament on March 
15 and its call for a paralyzing strike March 19-21.  The 
Minister went through the legal bases for raising of complaints 
such as the ABC's call for an over-turn of the outcome of the 
February 17 national elections in Lesotho.  The donors accepted 
the government's explanation of the legal foundations and 
procedures which guide both the election and parliamentary 
processes.  Major development partners emphasized neutrality in 
terms of internal politics, but also indicated that we felt it 
was important to hear the views of all parties.  We emphasized 
that the LCD had also received a request to attend a donor 
roundtable before the elections to explain any concerns they may 
have had.  The U.S. Ambassador specifically addressed the 
importance of post election dialogue, the need for the 
government in power to speak to the people and explain its 
position on a variety of issues, and reiterated the importance 
of peace, stability and security for our own citizens and staff 
working both in the capital of Maseru as well as the many PCVs 
and health workers serving in the rural districts.  We 
acknowledged the right and responsibility of government to 
maintain order should the opposition or any other group hinder 
day-to-day activities of citizens through threats, intimidation 
or violence.  This point was reiterated by all donors, in 
particular, the health representative from the United Nations. 
We believe the government's request for this meeting was based 
on the fact that we, the development partners, had felt it 
necessary to hear all sides and to apprise the SADC Executive 
Secretary Tomaz Salomao of our views since opposition members 
 
SIPDIS 
had asked for assistance in establishing a dialogue with the 
government.  We note that the government denied it had ever 
received such a request from the members of the opposition.  In 
a country of less than 2,000,000 people, it struck us as 
somewhat bureaucratic that the government would demand a formal 
request from its own citizens in order to meet with them.   The 
Prime Minister has had to make a public statement addressing 
these matters.  Post continues to keep Amcits aware of security 
issues as needed.  End Summary. 
 
---------------------------- 
Hearing the Ruling Party's Side 
---------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (C)  Minister Phooko asked the development partners to meet 
with him and the Ministers of Justice and Trade in the 
Conference Room of the UN House to hear what he described as the 
government's "side of the story" regarding the demands of the 
opposition party that the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system 
had been abused by the LCD, the subsequent statement to 
parliament to that effect, and the call for a "stay-away" March 
19-21 to cease transport across the country.  Dr. Phooko 
presented specific points as follows:  The issues around the 
elections are "non-issues" since international observers had 
declared the February 17 polling elections as free, fair, 
peaceful and transparent.  He added that Lesotho holds elections 
every five years and these have been carried out successfully, 
particularly in 2002, despite the military and civil unrest that 
had ensued in 1998.  He reviewed the history of late 2006 when 
former LCD Minister of Communications Thomas Thabane had 
"crossed the aisle" with 17 members of the LCD to form the ABC 
party.  As a result of this action he continued, the government 
requested the King to address Parliament.  There had been much 
political movement around political parties and alliances. 
Minister Phooko felt it was important to emphasize this since 
the ABC had accused the LCD of illegally establishing an 
alliance with the National Independent Party (NIP).  In fact, he 
added, the ABC itself had established an alliance with the 
Basotho workers party (BWP) and the social democratic parties. 
The alliances and the lists that are produced by the various 
parties had been endorsed by the various members of said 
parties.  The list of party members are then presented to the 
Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).  Following their 
presentation and acceptance by the IEC, the elderly president of 
 
MASERU 00000176  002.2 OF 005 
 
 
the NIP had gone to court contesting the alliance which he 
charged had been made by his deputy and other members of his 
party.  He won his case there.  The Appeals Court had 
subsequently overturned the decision on his case.  Phooko 
recounted that the LCD had won 61 votes, the new ABC and its 
allies had won 17, and one member of the ACP party had died 
during the electoral process.  Thus, there were 79 of the 80 
seats filled.  In terms of proportional seats under the MMP 
process, the ruling LCD had received 24, the ABC 10, and the ACP 
2 for a total of 12.  It was noted that in the previous 
political results from the 2002 election, the opposition parties 
had 10 seats.  Thus, in 2007 they had obtained two additional 
representatives. 
 
¶3.  (C) Dr. Phooko then returned to incidents around the March 
15 opening of Parliament.  He began by saying that the dispute 
on the alliances as well as proportionality had begun with Mr. 
Manyeli and the NIP party.  During the official opening of 
Parliament by King Letsie III, the leader of the ABC, on a point 
of order, said that he did not approve of the swearing-in of new 
members since it did not include Dr. Manyeli.  The NIP leader 
had filed a list of eight people (who all lost) and Mr. Thabane 
believed that all of them should have been on the accepted list 
of the IEC.  He then stated on the floor that he would hold a 
"stay-away" until the grievances were addressed.  At that 
juncture, the Speaker of the House called him on the point of 
order.  Following the adjournment of Parliament, the ABC leader 
issued instructions to his members and all of the opposition 
party leaders, including the highly volatile monarchist party, 
to remain inside the Parliament for the rest of the day and into 
the night.  The police, according to Minister Phooko, had gone 
late in the night (around 10:00 or 11:00 p.m.) to Minister 
Thabane and the Basotho National Party (BNP) leader General 
Lekhanya to ask them to please leave the premises.  When they 
did not do so, the Speaker of the House issued instructions to 
have them evicted.  The eviction was carried out by the Lesotho 
Defense Force (LDF).  According to the Minister, up until 
Thabane's declaration in Parliament, the GOL had not received 
any communication from Thabane.  Concerning his problems with 
the MMP process and allocation of seats, he asserted that there 
had been no communication, even up until the time that we met on 
March 21, from the ABC party that they wanted to meet the 
government, nor that it had specific grievances they wished to 
discuss with the GOL concerning the NIP situation.  Minister 
Phooko said Thabane's outburst in Parliament and call for the 
strike "took the GOL by surprise." 
 
--------------------------------- 
The Legal/Constitutional Arguments 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (C) Doctor Phooko's presentation was followed by that of the 
newly appointed Minister of Trade, Mr. Popane Lebesa, who 
re-emphasized the points made by the first speaker.  In his 
opinion, the ABC seems to see "everything wrong" with the 
alliances of the LCD and NIP and nothing wrong with their own 
(the ABC party) alliances.  Lebesa explained that the parties' 
conference of 2006 had endorsed the various national committees 
to sign for all alliances made by the various parties.  Such 
confirmation of alliances could not even be overturned by the 
supreme leader of any political party in Lesotho; no one in the 
party has the right to challenge the conferences decisions. 
Thus, he argued, the national executive leadership had acted 
constitutionally in signing off on its agreement with the NIP. 
He went further to say that the High Court was not a court of 
disputes and was within its constitutional rights to make 
decisions.  He explained that a Court of Disputes involved three 
judges and Mr. Manyeli's case had been heard by the regular High 
Court although the election results still stood.. 
 
¶5.  (C) Minister Lebesa turned next to the issue of the ABC's 
leader using Parliament to hear the results of Mr. Manyeli's 
case and to try to use the national assembly as a court.  This 
indicated that the ABC had not accepted the results of the 
elections and wanted to amend those results after the elections 
had been declared free, fair and peaceful by the international 
observer teams.  Concerning Mr. Manyeli, the ABC's request that 
he be sworn-in indicated again that the opposition wanted the 
entire electoral process and outcome to be overturned.  The 
Minister of Trade proceeded to indicate that normally, if 
parties sought to discuss these matters, they would have made 
communication to the existing government in an effort to resolve 
any differences that may exist.  Echoing Minister Phooko's 
position, Lebesa said that the ABC leader Thabane never wrote to 
the NIP or the LCD Executive Secretaries, nor to the Prime 
Minister to say they had an issue to discuss with any of the 
parties mentioned.  Additionally, the ABC did not handle the 
issues properly since a member can only do so as a "motion to 
debate" within Parliament and not introduce these issues as a 
point of order.  Thus, it was not accurate for the ABC leader to 
bring these matters to Parliament.  Legally, therefore, in his 
 
MASERU 00000176  003.2 OF 005 
 
 
opinion, the ABC never introduced this motion.  Importantly, 
Minister Phooko interrupted Lebesa to say that even before 
Parliament had opened, the ABC had planned the "stay-away" and 
had no valid intent to pursue a real debate, but had used the 
Parliament as a format to call for the highly disruptive strike, 
which paralyzed Maseru.  The ABC leader had therefore taken 
drastic steps without ever saying he had the grievances which 
should have been raised with the NIP and LCD party executive 
secretaries.  Phooko highlighted the constraint the GOL had 
 
SIPDIS 
shown in simply removing violators, such as tire burners, and 
not showing massive force. 
 
¶6.  (C) Lebesa then raised the point of separation of powers 
citing the fact that the High Court's decision stood separately 
from Parliamentary actions in accordance with difference 
branches of government.  It was inappropriate for the 
opposition, he continued to go to the national assembly. 
Finally, Lebesa accused Thabane of saying late on March 20 that 
he "was suspending" the stay-away after the opposition had met 
with the SADC Executive Secretary on March 19, 20 and 21.  The 
SADC Executive Secretary Tomaz Salomao had also met with the LCD 
Executive Secretary, former Trade Minister Malie, who remains in 
his party position, as well as with current Minister of Trade 
Lebesa.  The LCD told SADC that the opposition had no approached 
them; they did not know of the dispute, Thabane had not 
attempted to contact the Prime Minister; and the Executive 
Secretary advised SADC that the ABC should have  requested a 
 
SIPDIS 
dialogue with the ruling party.  (Comment:  The SADC Executive 
Secretary told us March 22 that at Thabane's request, they had 
 
SIPDIS 
drafted a statement of SADC's role as facilitator.  Both the ABC 
leader and SADC official were to sign the statement late on 
March 22.) 
 
-------------------------------- 
Minster of Justice and Donor Comments 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (C) Minister of Justice Mrs. Mahase at that point was 
invited by Minister Phooko to comment.  She said that she had 
nothing to add.  She felt that the legal and political positions 
had been fully covered by her colleagues. 
 
¶8.  (C) The People's Republic of China (PRC) Ambassador Qiu (Dip 
Corps Dean) said he wanted to note that one of the radio 
stations "had lied" by saying in a broadcast on March 21 that 
his Embassy had closed the textile factories.  He said the 
factories were closed because workers could not travel to the 
factories, they could not open because of the oppositions 
stay-away, thus causing millions of dollars in losses to the 
producers.  (Comment:  The closure of the factory will also have 
a deleterious affect on U.S. firms such as the GAP and 
Levi-Strauss who purchased nearly 500 million dollars worth of 
items made in Lesotho over the past year.  End Comment.)  The 
PRC Ambassador stated that China has had a fruitful relationship 
with Lesotho, that they had pursued major infrastructure 
projects and are ready to move forward in development in an 
atmosphere of peace and stability.  Just prior to the PRC 
Ambassador's comments, Ambassador Perry thanked the Ministers 
(as did UN Resident Representative Hodan Haji Mohamud) for 
meeting with the development partners.  She referred to 
acceptance of the results of the elections and used, as an 
example, the United States own 2000 elections which had been 
contested, but whose results had been accepted by the public. 
Political parties of all types are then able to move forward 
with their agenda or, if elected, to move forward with their 
programs as the new U.S. Administration.  She emphasized that 
peace, security and good governance are essential to achieve the 
development goals of Lesotho, and echoed the neutral manner in 
which the diplomatic corps had heard from all sides of the 
Basotho political class.  The Ambassador observed that since 
independence, the U.S. had been deeply dedicated to involvement 
in the development of Lesotho.  She pointed out that for 40 
years, thousands of PCVs have served as teachers, health 
advisors and/or agricultural experts in Lesotho.  She added that 
major Programs had been initiated over the past three years to 
include the President's initiatives such as the President's 
Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and negotiations for the 
Millennium Challenge Account (MCA).  Also, the overall U.S. 
Mission in support of education and health programs such as the 
Ambassador's Girls' Scholarship Program (AGSP) and the 
establishment of staff for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) 
have expanded; additional staff are expected in the near future 
to provide support needed for the presidential initiatives. 
 
¶9.  (C) Finally, the Ambassador stated that its is the right and 
responsibility of all governments to maintain order and 
simultaneously to establish and encourage dialogue with all 
parties.  She emphasized the importance of reaching Out to the 
populace by the leaders and encouraged the leaders of Lesotho to 
follow the example of other leaders such as the late U.S. 
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who, through his fire-side 
 
MASERU 00000176  004.2 OF 005 
 
 
chats, had maintained ongoing communication with the American 
people at all level of society during the more difficult periods 
of the depression and World War II.  His communication had been 
followed similarly by other leaders such as Presidents Reagan, 
Bush and Clinton on a regular basis.  This was an essential part 
of the democracy process -- to keep the people informed. 
Ambassador Perry said she would be remiss not to draw the 
government's attention to the extensive disregard for democracy 
in Zimbabwe and the need for all members of the international 
community to condemn it. 
 
¶10.  (C) Ambassador Perry's concern about the people of Lesotho 
was echoed by Dr. Esther Aceng, the World Health Organization's 
Representative's deputy, who stated that her organization had 
not been able to even deliver critically needed medicine such as 
anti-retroviral drugs to people suffering with HIV/AIDS due to 
the stay-away and cessation of transport.  She emphasized the 
adverse impact on health that this stay-away had had on the 
nation and urged the government to have a "Plan B" should such 
an event ever occur in the future and avoid the loss of life. 
The UN Resident Representative, Mrs. Hodan Haji Mohamud, said 
that the UN certainly did not expect this to happen again and 
hoped to see the MMP questions resolved through dialogue and 
noted that the model itself had been developed years ago at this 
very site, the UN House.  She emphasized, as did others, that 
the UN House was opened to all, whether politicians or herd 
boys, to hear their positions on any issue.  She also stated 
that the UN with the U.S. and Irish governments had worked 
diligently to strengthen the capacity of the IEC and had 
coordinated their development efforts.  Like her colleagues, the 
UN organization must be able to work in a secure and peaceful 
environment that ensures the safety of the staff as well as the 
safety of the people of Lesotho and demonstrated good governance 
-- all requirements for assistance. 
 
¶11.  (C) Irish Ambassador Paddy Faye responded that his 
government and his Embassy remained at the disposal of the 
Basotho people and the government of Lesotho, which his Embassy 
was there to support in its development goals.  He also stated 
that the Irish Embassy worked in a neutral manner and heard all 
sides of all parties concerning the elections.  Development aid 
of the donors, he continued, depended as well on good governance 
and an atmosphere of safety and security.  He thanked the 
Ministers for briefing the donors on the political crisis that 
Lesotho had faced following the elections and reiterated 
Irelands cooperation with the U.S. and the UN to strengthen the 
capacity of the nation through health and other development 
projects. 
 
--------------------- 
Government's Concluding Remarks 
--------------------- 
 
¶12.  (C) Following the donors remarks, Minister Phooko assured 
the development partners that Lesotho was committed to holding 
regular elections.  The GOL was found he stated, on the pillars 
of peace, stability and cooperation.  It recognized the 
importance of free and fair elections and at the same time 
acknowledged that the Mountain Kingdom had experienced a number 
of post election issues.  However, the government, on an 
incremental basis was trying to guarantee peace and the 
cessation of the type of actions that had followed the current 
opposition parties' complaints.  The Minister of Justice thanked 
the Ambassadors and other attendees for allowing the GOL to 
present their views.  The Minister of Justice also thanked the 
U.S. for the work it had undertaken in Lesotho to achieve 
political stability through peaceful means and she committed 
herself to working with the media to put forward balanced views. 
 Extreme rhetoric has been heard on all sides by numerous radio 
broadcasts.  She noted that Minister of Trade Lebesa had had to 
leave about five minutes before the meeting concluded, but he 
concurred as well with the GOL's full presentation. 
 
-------------- 
Comment 
-------------- 
 
¶13.  (C) We take the comments by the GOL at face value; 
certainly their arguments that constitutional and legal basis 
had been knowingly abused by the opposition ranks.  We say this 
knowing that former Minister of Communication Thomas Thabane has 
served in every government since Lesotho's independence over 40 
years ago and he knows the ins and outs of procedures.  Although 
Thabane throughout the past three weeks has been personally 
contacted, according to the previous South African High 
Commissioner as well as the current Deputy/Charge d'Affairs, by 
RSA President Mbeki to cease and desist and not to provoke 
violent disruption in Lesotho, he seems to have ignored this 
advice.  Obviously, any unrest in Lesotho poses problems for 
South Africa as well as for the people of Lesotho.  On the other 
hand, in our experience, in key donor separate discussions 
 
MASERU 00000176  005.2 OF 005 
 
 
before and after the government's presentation, the consensus 
was that the government was, to a certain extent, standing on 
ceremony in absolutely requesting a formal request from the 
various opposition parties.  The Irish Ambassador particularly 
felt that the Prime Minister could have shown strength by 
offering to meet with any potentially disgruntled party leaders 
rather than simply having statements released on the radio by 
the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Communications 
over the past week urging people to go back to work.   The 
Government Secretary had also issued a statement saying civil 
servants must report to work, that the government would provide 
transportation to them and that if they were absent throughout 
this stay-away, they would be considered on unpaid leave.  The 
Chief of Missions (COMs) who had met with the SADC Executive 
Secretary late March 20,  met him again for a follow up readout 
 
SIPDIS 
of his series of communications with the political parties and 
government participants prior to Minister Phooko's March 21 
session with us. 
 
¶14.  (C) At this point, it appears Lesotho has returned to 
normal operations.  In addition to the permanent USG staff, PCVs 
and missionaries, the Embassy has been handling 70 official USG 
visitors during the month of March.  Post has continued to 
update them on the situation as it as evolved and will, as 
needed, continue to do so.  There have been no reported 
incidents involving Amcits during this period.  As members of 
the donor community, we agreed that the meeting with senior GOL 
ministers was very useful and we hope that they will take to 
heart our entreaties to commence a pro-active dialogue with the 
citizens of Lesotho as well as other political entities.  End 
Comment. 
PERRY