Lesotho : PM Thabane To Step Down

Lesotho’s Parliamentary Speaker Sephiri Motanyane has announced the stepping down of Prime Minister, Thomas Thabane following the collapse of the coalition government, leaving him without enough seats to continue governing. The speaker added that Mr Thabane who wanted to stay in power until the end of July 2020, would step down by 22 May and the formation of a new government would take two weeks.
Thabane's own All Basotho Convention Party (ABC), and two other coalition parties on Monday ended their support for the prime minister's four-party coalition. "We have verified that the four-party coalition agreement has been terminated," Motanyane said. Sam Rapapa, deputy chairman of ABC, said all parties had provisionally agreed on Finance Minister Moeketsi Majoro to replace Thabane. "Thabane is now a caretaker prime minister until May 22 when a new prime minister is sworn in," Rapapa said. 
The 80-year-old leader has been under pressure to leave office for months after he and his current wife were accused of orchestrating the murder of his estranged wife, Lipolelo Thabane. Lipolelo was shot several times outside her home in 2017, on the eve of Mr Thabane’s inauguration. Mr Thabane and his current wife Maesaiah have both denied any involvement in the murder.
Many in Lesotho believe that Mr Thabane has spent the last few months trying to lobby those in power for immunity from prosecutio...