Immunity from prosecution for Lesotho PM not part of exit deal - party

FILE PHOTO: Lesotho's Prime Minister Thabane addresses the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York

MASERU (Reuters) - Immunity from prosecution for Lesotho's Prime Minister Thomas Thabane in the murder of his ex-wife was not discussed in the deal to dissolve his government, a spokesman for a partner party in a proposed replacement coalition said on Monday.

Thabane's coalition fell apart in parliament on Monday, meaning he will have to leave office on May 22. He is a suspect in the murder of his former wife, but police have yet to formally charge him because he has argued for immunity in court.

"The Prime Minister's prosecution doesn't fall off and is not part of this deal at all. We are not even thinking of considering it," Democratic Congress party spokesperson Montoeli Masoetsa told Reuters by telephone.

(Reporting by Marafaele Mohloboli; Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Hugh Lawson)