The Commonwealth Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to Lesotho, Dr Rajen Prasad, visited the Kingdom of Lesotho from 3-11 March 2015 after the 28 February General Elections.
The Commonwealth Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to Lesotho, Dr Rajen Prasad, visited the Kingdom of Lesotho from 3-11 March 2015 after the 28 February General Elections.
During his visit, Dr Prasad paid a courtesy call on His Majesty King Letsie III, and met with key political stakeholders, including leaders of the outgoing and incoming Governments, and the Independent Electoral Commission. He also met with SADC Facilitator and Deputy President, H E Cyril Ramaphosa, during the latter’s 5-6 March visit to Lesotho.
In July 2014 Dr Prasad released the “Governance in Lesotho: Repositioning for Success” report which advanced an architecture for reform of effective governance in Lesotho comprising (i) an effective parliament, (ii) an independent public service, (iii) a robust process for forming and sustaining successful coalitions, and (iv) constitutional clarity around the transition period when the Government assumes a caretaker role after an election is called, and other constitutional changes to make it consistent with an Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system.
In this connection, Dr Prasad was requested by the new Prime Minister Elect, Prof. Pakalitha Mosisili and his coalition partners to work with a technical team comprised of representatives of Democratic Congress (DC), Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD), Basotho Congress Party (BCP), Lesotho People’s Congress (LPC), Marematlou Freedom Party (MFP), National Independent Party (NIP), and the Popular Front for Democracy (PFD) [BA1] to draft a coalition agreement reflecting the decisions reached by the coalition partners, and which outlined the critical areas of reform they intend to address as a Government.
The Special Envoy succeeded in facilitating a Coalition agreement that has been accepted by the seven coalition partners. Dr Prasad said: “It has been a privilege to work with the Coalition’s technical team, who have contributed enormously to a very thorough agreement that is almost complete. I am sure when it is made public, Basotho will find it comprehensive, appropriately ambitious, and relevant for the times”.
The agreement sets out mechanisms that can strengthen efforts towards a sustainable democracy in Lesotho, and a programme of work, including critical areas of reform the Coalition partners will address.
Dr Prasad further said: “A sustainable democracy earns the respect of its citizens and the international community and the Commonwealth supports all efforts that strengthen the effective functioning of governance structures in Lesotho. I encourage the incoming Government as well as the Opposition of Lesotho’s ninth Parliament to play their due roles to enable democracy to mature in Lesotho and by so doing, contribute to stability and resilience in the Kingdom”.
