Democratic Congress
The Democratic Congress (DC; initially Ntsu Democratic Congress, NDC; German for example: "Democratic Congress") is a party in Lesotho . It was founded in 2012 and became the strongest party in the 2012 and 2015 general elections . In 2017 it became the second largest party.
history
From 2010 onwards there were tensions in the then single-ruling party Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD). The Prime Minister pakalitha mosisili lost an internal vote and left in February 2012 with 45 other MPs the party. The new party was initially called Ntsu Democratic Congress, after Ntsu Mokhehle , the former chairman of the LCD predecessor Basutoland Congress Party .
In the elections on May 26, 2012, the party ran as the Democratic Congress and received 40 percent of the vote and 41 of 80 direct seats. Thanks to partial proportional representation , she received another seven seats, but with 48 of 120 seats she missed an absolute majority. Her strongholds were the south and east of Lesotho, where she won all constituencies. Mosisili resigned from the post of Prime Minister on May 30, 2012. With the swearing in of the new Prime Minister Tom Thabane , the DC became an opposition party.
In the 2015 elections , the DC under Mosisili was again the strongest party with 47 seats. He won almost all seats in the mountain regions and in the south of the country. Together with the LCD and five small parties, he formed a coalition government under Prime Minister Mosisili from March 17, 2015, which had 65 of the 120 mandates. In 2016, the wings lithope (for example: "girlfriends") formed around Mosisili and lirurubele ("butterflies") around the deputy chairman and minister Monyane Moleleki . In the same year the latter held talks with the opposition ABC about the overthrow of Mosisili. On November 10, 2016, the majority of the National Executive Committee decided against Mosisili's will to leave the government. Moleleki and four other ministers left the cabinet the following day. At the beginning of December 2016, he founded the Alliance of Democrats, which, according to his information at the time, could rely on 23 of the 120 parliamentarians.
After Mosisili lost a vote of no confidence in parliament in 2017, he again scheduled elections in which the DC was only the second strongest party with 30 seats and has been the strongest opposition party ever since. Mathibeli Mokhothu became the group leader. In 2019 Mosisili resigned as party chairman, Mokhothu was elected as his successor.
In April 2020, the DC formed an alliance with parts of the ABC and other parties, which resulted in the resignation of Prime Minister Thabane and the inauguration of Moeketsi Majoro (ABC).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Mothetjoa Metsing's website, LCD ( Memento from July 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on May 30, 2012
- ↑ Article in the Lesotho Times (English), accessed March 20, 2012
- ↑ Results on the website of the election commission ( Memento from February 6, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF, English; 13.3 MB) Election results 2012 (English)
- ↑ Results at iec.org.ls ( Memento from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (English, PDF)
- ^ Mosisili supporters demand Moleleki's ouster. Lesotho Times, October 1, 2016, accessed October 1, 2016
- ↑ DC youths hit out at LCD. Lesotho Times, November 4, 2016, accessed November 5, 2016
- ↑ PM hits back at DC NEC. Lesotho Times, November 18, 2016, accessed November 23, 2016
- ^ Moleleki-Thabane alliance 'intact'. Lesotho Times, December 16, 2016, accessed December 16, 2016
- ^ Charles Fogelman, John Aerni-Flessner: Goodbye to the godfather of Lesotho politics. Mail & Guardian of February 22, 2019 (English), accessed February 22, 2019
- ↑ DC speaks on coalition with ABC. Lesotho Times, May 14, 2020, accessed May 19, 2020