Lesotho’s businessman-turned-politician Sam Matekane is set to become the southern African country’s next prime minister after putting together a coalition headed by his Revolution for Prosperity party.
Matekane, 64, affirmed the new three-party coalition Tuesday in the capital, Maseru. His party will team up with two smaller parties, the Alliance of Democrats and the Movement for Economic Change parties, to secure a parliamentary majority needed to form a government.
Recall that his party was only launched in March this year, and won 56 of the legislature’s 120 seats in last week’s general election. That was five shy of the 61-seat threshold required for any party to form a government on its own.
Although he had emphasized the importance of governing alone to enable his party to implement what he called a “developmental agenda,” Matekane joined forces with other parties after he failed to secure an outright win. Together the two smaller parties are bringing 9 seats into the new coalition, giving Matekane’s government a slim majority of 65 seats.
Addressing the media, Matekane said he chose the two parties because they share the same vision of cutting down on government expenditure and improving the delivery of government services to Lesotho’s population.
