Politics

New Lesotho PM, Matekane, shuns former ruling party, forms coalition government with ‘smaller’ parties

Published

2 years ago

October 12, 2022

Newly elected Lesotho Prime Minister, Sam Matekane, has formed a three-party coalition government headed by his Revolution for Prosperity Party, with two ‘smaller’ parties, Alliance of Democrats and the Movement for Economic Change.

Together, the two parties won nine in the election but according to Matekane, they were picked based on their integrity and manifestos.

There was no place for the outgoing ruling party, the All Basotho Convention, which he defeated in the parliamentary elections held on Friday.

While announcing the three-party coalition at a press conference in the capital Maseru on Tuesday shortly after he was declared winner by the electoral body, the 64-year-old billionaire businessman-turned-politician said his party will team up with two smaller parties to secure a parliamentary majority needed to form a government.

Matekane’s RP party which was only launched in March this year, had defied all odds when it won 56 of the legislature’s 120 seats in election, which was just five shy of the 61-seat threshold required for any party to form a government on its own.

Going by the constitution of the southern African country, that meant he must form a coalition government with parties of his choice and he decided to go with the so-called small parties, shunning the ABC which had been in power since 2017.

Matekane said he chose the two parties because they share the same vision of cutting down on government expenditure and improving the delivery of government services to Lesotho’s population.

Though Matekane is a newcomer to politics, political analysts in the country say he is in good company as leaders of the two partner parties bring adequate experience in government.

The Alliance for Democracy leader, Monyane Moleleki, had served as deputy prime minister from June 2017 to May 2020, while the leader of the Movement for Economic Change, Selibe Mochoboroane, was development planning minister in the outgoing ABC-led government.

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Politics

Mauritius’ Prime Minister to double as Finance Minister

Published

13 hours ago

November 23, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In an effort to maintain a tight eye on the economy, Mauritius’ Prime Minister, Navin Ramgoolam, who took office this month following a resounding election victory, said on Friday that he would retain the position of finance minister for himself.

“We are doing an audit of the economy to see to what extent the outgoing government has destroyed it,” Ramgoolam told reporters in the capital Port Louis after he presided over the swearing-in of other ministers.

Ten years after he stepped down as prime minister, the seasoned politician returned to the position when his Alliance du Changement (ADC) alliance won 60 of the 62 seats in the national legislature.

The 77-year-old Ramgoolam said earlier this week that he would be auditing governmental finances. Before this, he was prime minister from 1995 to 2000 and again from 2005 to 2014.

Ramgoolam started a campaign in 2006 to streamline taxes and reduce bureaucracy to diversify the $10 billion economy beyond exports of sugar, textiles, and tourism.

Since then, the 1.3 million-person nation, which positions itself as a bridge between Africa and Asia, has developed into a major offshore financial hub and has been rated by the World Bank as the easiest location to do business in Africa regularly.

Politics

Mali’s junta names spokesman Abdoulaye Maiga new Prime Minister

Published

1 day ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A day after dismissing Choguel Maiga for criticising the government, Mali’s governing junta named its spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, as Prime Minister on Thursday, according to state broadcaster, ORTM.

A source close to Choguel Maiga told Reuters that the ruling generals were incensed by Maiga’s remarks over the weekend denouncing the junta’s inability to hold elections within the 24-month timeframe given for the return to democracy.

After promising to hold elections in February, the military authorities, who took control in two separate coups in 2020 and 2021, have put off the poll indefinitely, citing technological difficulties.

Choguel Maiga’s firing coincides with indications of growing discontent and disarray among Mali politicians, even those who first supported the coup and collaborated with the junta.

As the wait for elections continues, Choguel Maiga, a civilian prime minister who was installed by the military junta in 2021, is the most recent to lose support.

He was cited on Saturday as claiming he learnt of the junta’s decision via the media and that there had been no discussion regarding the delay of the elections inside the cabinet.

“It’s all happening in total secrecy, without the prime minister’s knowledge,” Choguel Maiga told reporters.

Before then, he had frequently stood up for Mali’s junta against criticism from foreign friends and neighbours in West Africa who denounced its repeated election delays and military collaboration with Russian mercenaries.

As government spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, the new prime minister, has also made strong public remarks against France, the previous colonial master. One such speech was demanding French President Emmanuel Macron to stop his “neocolonial” and “condescending” behaviour.

Abdoulaye Maiga and Assimi Goita, the leaders of the junta, announced they had kept all of the important cabinet ministers in their portfolios in the new administration in a statement that was broadcast on state television ORTM.

The announcement said that Abdoulaye Maiga will remain minister of territory administration.