Muluzi to head C’wealth elections observer mission in Lesotho
The Commonwealth has appointed former Malawi Head of State Dr. Bakili Muluzi to chair the Commonwealth Observer Group to the 2012 Parliamentary Elections in Lesotho.
Elections will be held in Lesotho on May 26, 2012.
Before the election, the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy suffered a split, with Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili planning to found a new party called Ntsu Democratic Congress (referring to Ntsu Mokhehle, the founder of the LCD), while the LCD’s secretary-general Mothejoa Metsing will lead the LCD.
Under Lesotho law, the leader of the majority party in the National Assembly automatically becomes prime minister. Lesotho has a bicameral Parliament consisting of the Senate with 33 seats and the National Assembly with 120 seats.
The monarch is hereditary and under traditional law only the college of chiefs has the power to depose and/or invest a monarch.
Malawi Electoral Support Network (MESN) Chairperson Aloisius Nthenda is also in the team to monitor the polls.
Muluzi confirmed to The Nation on Wednesday that he was approached by the Secretary General of the Commonwealth to chair the group.
He described the appointment as a challenge but also an opportunity for him to put into practice his role as Africa’s Goodwill Ambassador on Governance and Human Rights accorded to him last year.
“I am yet to inform Her Excellency the President Mrs. Joyce Banda. I am very grateful to the Commonwealth for recognizing my role,” Muluzi is quoted as saying.
“ This means that the administration (of the late Bingu wa Mutharika) made my role redundant. I know invitations were coming but were hidden for reasons I do not know.
“Former presidents still play a role in their countries and the world. It makes me happy that the new administration of joyce Banda would want to recognize my role,” Muluzi is quoted to have said.
Muluzi said he would leave for Cape Town for medical check-up on Saturday and connect to Lesotho from there before the elections on May 26 2012.
Observers Group members are expected to arrive in Lesotho by May 19.
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