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Lesotho Parly likely to unseat PM – opposition

Cape Town – Lesotho Prime Minister Tom Thabane is likely to be ousted when parliament convenes following an agreement by the warring parties in the mountain nation to work together to restore stability.

SABC footage showed Lesotho opposition Democratic Congress' (DC) Tlohang Sekhamane saying there was no way Thabane could bring the warring parties together.

Watch the video below.

Thabane fled to South Africa in the early hours of Saturday morning, after being tipped off that the military was about to move against him.

The military denies staging a coup, a claim which few inside the country or abroad seem to believe.

Lesotho's ruling parties agreed on Monday to lift a suspension of parliament ordered by the prime minister in June in a bid to restore normality following the alleged coup attempt.

They "committed to working together" to restore stability, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) said, according to SAPA.

But Sekhamane said bringing the parties together was going to be a difficult task for Thabane.

"There is no way that he [Thabane] will bring the LCD [Lesotho Congress for Democracy] and the ABC [All Basotho Convention] back on the table to discuss anything sensible," said Sekhamane

Sekhamane said the parties had "hurt" each other long enough and that their ideologies were not the same.

He said Thabane didn't represent the majority anymore in parliament and was bound to be ousted.

"Yes of course they will unseat him because he does not represent the majority anymore," said Sekhamane.

Thabane was expected back in Lesotho on Tuesday but issues of security remained a concern, with gunfire and power cuts being reported to have rekindled tensions in capital Maseru.

Lesotho Times says Lesotho has been in turmoil amid infighting in the coalition government formed in 2012 and after Thabane suspended Parliament on 10 June 2014 to prevent a bid by coalition partner (LCD) led by Deputy Prime Minister Mothetjoa Metsing, to push for a no-confidence vote against him and bring back former Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili of the Democratic Congress (DC) into power.

The suspension of parliament forced divisions in the ruling coalition.

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