News
Lesotho election: Prime Minister Mosisili challenged by former allies
The two main contenders to unseat Lesotho’s Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili are both former members of his cabinet who rebelled over his refusal to step aside after 14 years in power.
Mothejoa Metsing has emerged as the most potent rival to the incumbent Mosisili, rising to prominence as the chief “fire extinguisher”, a faction of the long-ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD).
The 45-year-old Metsing is now leading the party into Saturday’s general elections, having come out on top of the rival faction that backed Mosisili.
As LCD secretary general, Metsing insisted that the party hold a leadership conference that could have proved an embarrassment for Prime Minister Mosisili.
The conference was aborted in January amid fears of violence, and two days later Mosisili fired Metsing from his cabinet post as communications minister.
In February, Mosisili left the party and brought most of its parliamentarians with him to form the Democratic Congress, which is now the ruling party.
Metsing has long worried about 67-year-old Mosisili’s refusal to step down from power.
