MASERU-A CHEEKY proposal by Alliance of Democrats (AD) Senators that a sitting Prime Minister should only be removed if two thirds of MPs in Parliament agrees was thrown out on Tuesday.
The AD senators had pushed the constitutional amendment to a proposed law that seeks to clip the Prime Minister’s powers that was passed this week.
Currently, a Prime Minister can be removed by a simple majority.
If the AD proposal had been accepted, it would have thrown a lifeline to Prime Minister Thomas Thabane who is battling to fend off a vicious attempt to push him out of power.
The President of the Senate Dr ’Mamonaheng Mokitimi shot down the proposal which was brought by Home Affairs Minister Tsukutlane Au, saying it “is inconsistent with the Bill itself”.
The President said the amendment should have been brought before the Bill was sent to senate committees.
She also said the only standing order they have says all business should be done through committee reports.
She said she intended to give Au a chance to table his amendment until they had a meeting with her committee and she then decided against the move.
Au wanted to argue but Dr Mokitimi told him she was not expecting debates when she made a ruling.
“You know what to do if you are unhappy with decisions,” Dr Mokitimi said.
After that she announced that “the ninth amendment to the constitution passed successfully without any amendment”.
The Deputy Minister of Education, Kotiti Diholo, argued that the simple majority was unjust to a Prime Minister since he would have been elected by a lot of people.
“The amendment will somehow cause problems in the end,” Diholo said.
“People may not see things eye-to-eye therefore the amendment should bereviewed,” he said.
“I think this is (being) done to tie the Prime Minister with handcuffs.”
He however said they were not talking about the current Prime Minister.
“When making laws, we should not act like we are talking about the current Prime Minister.”
He said the Prime Minister qualifies for a pension after completing 18 months in office.
Professor Ntoi Rapapa, the AD deputy leader who is also the Energy Minister, kept shaking his head in disbelief.
The AD’s proposed two-thirds majority to send a Prime Minister home would put spanners in the lower chamber’s motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Thomas Thabane.
Although 93 out of 120 MPs in the National Assembly voted for the ninth amendment, there is no indication that all of them would agree to send Thabane packing.
Nine AD MPs in the lower house would be expected to vote with Thabane as the AD leader Monyane Moleleki and all their ministers could be axed if a new coalition government takes power.
The AD has eight ministers and deputy ministers.
A faction of Thabane’s ABC party has already indicated that it wants to form a new government with the Democratic Congress party.
Two smaller parties, the Reformed Congress of Lesotho and the Basotho National Party are also part of the deal.
Nkheli Liphoto