The current GNU in Lesotho has succeeded in transforming the political character of the Basotho from that of strife among the political parties, enabling them to work together to achieve peace for the first time in history. The fact that Lesotho, with a population of fewer than 2 million people, has had a significant number of political parties, is a sign of the political discord that exists.
However, the ability to form a coalition government without receding into escalating conflict signifies a positive outcome of the current GNU.
The current GNU is also accused of the mismanagement of state funds, corruption and a failure to provide employment and social services, such as health and education. Thus, the GNU framework in Lesotho lacks a strategy for distributing power equally to all participants to ensure lasting peace.
The major political parties exercise more power and control over the minor political parties when it comes to decision-making in the GNU. This situation is not peculiar to Lesotho alone — in the Zimbabwean GNU, Mugabe remained with his executive powers afforded to the presidency, and had no legal binding basis to consult Tsvangirai on appointments.
Political leaders often fail to ensure fulfilment of the requirements of GNU frameworks, as well as to live up to their promises to deliver social goods to citizens. Among other issues, this article demonstrates that although the GNUs in both Zimbabwe and Lesotho brought some positive developments in solving political stand-offs among rival political parties, issues of unequal power-sharing between the bigger political parties and the smaller ones remained a key challenge.
This led to strained relationships between and among the political parties, and ruined prospects for positive peace post-GNU in both countries. Furthermore, GNUs in Africa are often affected by endogenous forces, as their evolvement is often preceded by external mediation outcomes that enforce mediation before conflicts reach a hurting stalemate, breeding half-baked peace agreements.
In Zimbabwe, the collapsing economy and associated violence triggered international isolation and constant calls by the SADC for the parties to dialogue peacefully to save the region from economic and political problems.
Lesotho has been strong in refusing the imposition of GNUs by outside mediators. As a result, political leaders often fail to understand the needs and aspirations of many, leading to incongruence and the collapse of their political agreements. In both Zimbabwe and Lesotho, GNU formation and implementation remained the preserve of formal politicians, without giving regard to the roles that regular citizens and civil society can play.
Please note: This action will also remove this member from your connections and send a report to the site admin. Please allow a few minutes for this process to complete. By Dudziro Nhengu Stanley Murairwa. Share on facebook.
Share on twitter. Share on linkedin. Share on whatsapp. Share on email. May 8, Elections , Lesotho , Zimbabwe. Establishing the sources of disharmony among government of national unity GNU parties, using the cases of Zimbabwe and Lesotho. Introduction Electoral disputes have long played a role in directing political conflicts towards the attainment of ephemeral peace in both Zimbabwe and Lesotho — two countries in the Southern African Development Community SADC region.
The then Deputy President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa delivers a message of encouragement to delegates in his capacity as the Southern African Development Community facilitator to Lesotho during his working visit to Maseru 18 October Following the election rerun in Zimbabwe, the Southern African Development Community mandated former South African president, Thabo Mbeki, to facilitate interparty negotiations between the key political players.
Conclusion Among other issues, this article demonstrates that although the GNUs in both Zimbabwe and Lesotho brought some positive developments in solving political stand-offs among rival political parties, issues of unequal power-sharing between the bigger political parties and the smaller ones remained a key challenge.
The need for a coalition government rose after the parliamentary as well as Presidential elections which were marred with violence and human rights violations. The official results of the presidential election were only announced after a month resulting in claims of vote rigging by the Movement for Democratic Change. Tsvangirai withdrew from the election on 23 June following intimidation of his supporters. He said said 86 people had been killed and 10 injured in the violence.
The situation has not been helped by the rejection of the presidential election results by the main opposition party. Only the European Union observers were somewhat circumspect in their assessment. Read more: Fantasy that Mnangagwa would fix Zimbabwe now fully exposed. How individuals who will sit on the national transitional authority will be chosen and by whom, is not clear.
The opposition may have a point on re-engagement with the West. But the transitional authority idea is doomed to fail because of lack of buy-in by Zanu-PF. For now, the government has dismissed talk of a transitional authority as unconstitutional. Instead, in May it launched its own platform, called the Political Actors Dialogue.
The forum comprises 17 small political parties that participated in the elections. The main opposition party is boycotting the process on grounds that Mnangagwa is an illegitimate president.
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