6. Mr Christopher asked about the new constitution and the
Mr Tampi said that Paul Fifoot had done a good job
The Military Government
Monarchy.
and the new constitution was complete.
had approved the draft but it was for the incoming civilian
government to endorse it. He said a Commission to prevent the
Defence Services from becoming political would be set up. The
Commission would be empowered to appoint and remove officers.
He said that the new constitution did not say who (ie name)
should be King but the King would be a constitutional Monarch
who would act on the recommendations of the Council of
Ministers. Asked about pressure to reinstate ex-King
Moshoeshoe Mr Tampi said that it was now agreed that any
decision would be made after elections. The ex-King had little
support. Neither the BCP or BNP wanted him back.
Mr
7. Mr Christopher said that as Baroness Chalker had made clear
to the Chairman of the Military Council, the issue of
reinstatement and its timing was for the people of Lesotho.
Tempe said that Baroness Chalker was very popular in Lesotho.
Mr Tsekoa thanked HMG for its role in the return of ex-King
Moshoeshoe. It was important that he was back because of the
delay in elections. He said these would now be held mid to end
February 1993. He said exuberance made GOL proceed too fast to
enable the elections to go ahead as originally planned but the decision to go ahead was definite. He hoped to hear of Noel
Lee's replacement as Chief Electoral Officer soon.
CC: HKD
MVD
Hong Kong
PS/Baroness Chalker
OT4/DTI (Keith Melville)
CSAD/ODA (Marina Cox)
Maseru (Mr Butcher)
ald7.COL
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