THURSDAY, 4.30PM
THE Speaker in Lesotho’s National Assembly, Dr Teboho Kolane, on Thursday ejected the remaining 18 Basutoland Congress Party parliamentarians from the assembly for seven days, for what he said was gross unparliamentary conduct.
The MPs were dragged from the Assembly by police after refusing to budge when they were ordered to go. On Monday three other BCP MPs — also accused of unseemly conduct — were suspended from the assembly.
“As Parlaiment resumed today [Thursday] BCP MPs behaved in a grossly unparliamentary manner, banged their tables and made noisy interjections during proceedings,” Kolane said. As he entered the assembly, BCP MPs did not rise to afford him the normal parliamentary respect, he added. “They started whistling and beating empty tins just to make noise, and they were very disorderly and rowdy,” Kolane added.
In terms of the mountain kingdom’s constitution, first parliamentary offenders may suspended for a week. The political situation in Lesotho has been tense since Prime Minister Dr Ntsu Mokhehle left the BCP to form the new ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy.
BCP secretary-general, Rathala Ramolahloane, on Thursday confirmed congress MPs disrupted proceedings to demand that Kolane respond to their concerns, including a Speaker’s ruling that the BCP is now the official opposition, instead of the ruling party.