(Bloomberg) -- Political parties in Lesotho have agreed to constitutional, governance, security and media reforms to ease tensions in the mountain kingdom, which has long been dogged by political upheaval and a spate of coups.
An agreement to implement the reforms was signed during a visit by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday. Ramaphosa was appointed by the Southern Africa Development Community, a regional trading bloc, to facilitate dialog between the parties.
The deal will ease the passage of legislation that will safeguard the entire reforms process, Ramaphosa said at a media briefing in the capital, Maseru.
Prime Minister Thomas Thabane's All Basotho Convention, which holds 53 out of 120 seats of the National Assembly, has ruled Lesotho in alliance with the Basotho National Party, Alliance of Democrats and Reformed Congress of Lesotho since June 2017 general elections.
Thabane, 80, served a previous stint as premier after the 2012 elections, but was forced to flee to neighboring South Africa two years later after an attempted coup . His own party filed a motion of no confidence against him last month for allegedly allowing his wife to meddle in government affairs, Johannesburg-based broadcaster eNCA reported.
To contact the reporters on this story: Amogelang Mbatha in Johannesburg at ambatha@bloomberg.net;Mathabiso Ralengau in Johannesburg at mralengau@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net, Mike Cohen, Andre Janse van Vuuren
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