Lesotho PM asked to reopen parliament

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Tuesday asked Lesotho's Prime Minister Thomas Thabane to reopen parliament immediately, in a bid to pave the way for early elections and end political tensions in the country.

In a meeting, the SADC urged leaders of Lesotho's coalition government "to uphold their commitments towards restoration of constitutional normalcy in the kingdom", Xinhua reported.

According to a communique issued after the meeting, the SADC said that the reopening of parliament was key to all recommended reforms.

The 15-nation body also appointed a facilitator to monitor the implementation of the resolutions.

Lesotho's coalition government leaders had agreed to remove parliament prorogation earlier this month, and the SADC set a deadline of Sep 12 for reopening the parliament.

Trouble has been brewing in Lesotho since June, when Thabane's rival, Deputy Prime Minister Mothetjoa Metsing, vowed to push for a parliamentary vote of no confidence against Thabane.

Thabane then suspended parliament in June to avoid a vote of no confidence.

He was forced to flee to South Africa late August after an attempted "coup" against him by the military, believed to be loyal to Metsing and returned home days later after the "coup" under the brokerage of the SADC and South Africa.

After returning home, Thabane pledged to re-open parliament Sep 19.

But he later postponed it, saying he wanted to ascertain who was in charge of the country's army.