Masire to mediate in Lesotho

2009-07-08 21:15

Maseru - Former Botswana president Ketumile Masire arrived in Lesotho on Wednesday where a regional body has sent him to help negotiate a political impasse, a SADC official said.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is hoping to resolve a dispute stemming from elections in 2007 over the allocation of seats in parliament which has been linked to violence in the country.

"According to his itinerary he arrived in Lesotho today," an official told AFP.

The leader of the opposition All Basotho Convention, Tom Thabane, said Masire's visit comes after he wrote to a letter to SADC chair, South African President Jacob Zuma, demanding a solution to the deadlock.

"Masire will have to explain what had stalled the talks. We have confidence in the new SADC chair because he has an objective view of our issues. We are saying the model was flawed and we need experts to come," he said.

Talks stalled last year when Masire last visited the country to mediate the dispute, saying he was struggling to find common ground between the two parties.

Two weeks ago the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy said the talks were a fruitless exercise and the party has said talks are a "closed chapter".

Prime Minister Pakalithi Mosisili's LCD is accused of gerrymandering the results to block Thabane from becoming the official opposition leader.

An assassination attempt against Mosisili in April as well as a string of attacks on political leaders in the country since the elections have all been linked to the dispute.

Disputed election results in 1998 triggered major protests that were eventually quashed with a brief but bloody intervention of soldiers from South Africa and Botswana.

- AFP