Lesotho PM can be fired if he fails to quit, his party says

MASERU, Lesotho: Lesotho´s beleaguered prime minister can be sacked by the king if he does not resign before May 22, his party said Thursday. The tiny southern African nation has been gripped by political turmoil over accusations that premier Thomas Thabane may have had a hand in the killing of his former wife. Thabane had told AFP that he intended to hand in his resignation to the country´s supreme traditional leader, King Letsie III, on Wednesday. But on Thursday, the prime minister´s spokesman Relebohile Moyeye said he had not “received information that the PM has resigned”. Thabane´s coalition government collapsed in parliament on Monday, paving the way for the creation of a new one and the appointment of a successor premier. His own All Basotho Convention (ABC) party said the king can fire Thabane as he has not quit. “The constitution says if the prime minister has lost support in parliament, the speaker will advise His Majesty,” ABC chairman Samuel Rapapa told AFP.