Mohloai Mpesi
The All Basotho Convention leader and founder Motsoahae Thomas Thabane has been linked to a new political party which will be unveiled today in time for participation in the next edition of national assembly elections penciled for next year.
Thabane who is the legislator for the Abia constituency founded the ABC when he defected with 17 other members of the then Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) in late 2006 in time to compete in the 2007 polls which saw his charges some 18 parliamentary seats in the National Assembly.
Meanwhile, the new political party launching today will be called the Alliance for Free movement (AFM) and will be unveiled in Maseru.
All has not been well in the party with a lot of internal bickering among members who had taken up warring factions. At the height of the infighting, Thabane was forced out of the government he had formed with Monyane Moleleki of the Alliance of Democracy (AD), the Basotho National Party of Chief Thesele ‘Maseribane and the Reformed Congress of Lesotho (RCL) led by Keketso Rantšo.
After the collapse of his coalition, Thabane’s party went on to form a grand coalition with the country’s next biggest party the Democratic Congress.
Since his ouster, Thabane has been rumoured to a number of political moves with AFM being the latest.
In an interview with this publication, the octogenarian rebuffed at the rumours saying he had heard through the grapevine that there is a new party coming through the ranks, but distanced himself from it.
“I don’t know anything about that and I can’t talk about it. I have realised the rumors making rounds that I am up for a new party, even in my party ABC I heard people saying that.
“I will look for a root of these speculations and get back to you. I will jot down your name so that once I have the details I let you know, as of now I don’t have anything to say,†Thabane told this reporter.
Should the news of the party and its leadership turn out to be different from what the veteran statesman told this publication, it would not have been the first time that a politician has publicly denied a political move only to do it the following day.
Similarly, should it turn out that indeed Thabane is behind the new party, expectation is that he would be joined by his wife and political fellow ‘Ma-Esaiah Thabane.
