Lesotho Congress for Democracy

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The Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD, Sesotho Lekhotla la puso ea Sechaba ka Sechaba; German for example: "Lesotho Congress for Democracy") is a party in Lesotho . It was founded in 1997 and ruled from 1998 to 2012 with an absolute majority of mandates.

history

In 1997 the LCD split with the then Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle from the ruling Basutoland Congress Party . Regular parliamentary elections were held on May 29, 1998 , with the LCD receiving 60.7% of the vote and 79 out of 80 seats. Mokhehle resigned from office in 1998 and died in January 1999. His successor as party leader and prime minister was Bethuel Pakalitha Mosisili . Since the opposition parties did not recognize the election result, unrest broke out, which could only be ended with the intervention of South African and Botswana troops and the partial introduction of proportional representation . In October 2001, some senior members split off and formed the Lesotho People's Congress . In the parliamentary elections on May 25, 2002 , the LCD received 54.8% of the vote and 79 of the now 120 seats. In October 2006, Minister Tom Thabane left the party with 17 other MPs to found the All Basotho Convention (ABC). In the February 17, 2007 election , the LCD won 62 seats out of 120 and remained the government.

From 2010 there were power struggles within the LCD. Mosisili's opponent was the Secretary General and Minister of Communications Mothetjoa Metsing . After a lost internal vote, Mosisili split off from the LCD in the run-up to the upcoming elections in 2012 and founded a new party called the Democratic Congress (DC), also known as the Ntsu Democratic Congress (NDC), named after Ntsu Mokhehle. In the 2012 elections , the LCD received 26 seats under Metsing and only became the third largest party. Her stronghold was Metsing's home, the Leribe district , where she won most of the constituencies. On June 8, 2012, ABC Chairman Tom Thabane was sworn in as Prime Minister of a coalition government formed by the ABC, LCD and Basotho National Party (BNP). Due to a lack of agreements within the coalition, Metsing threatened several times with a merger with the DC and a no-confidence vote against Thabane, so that the latter suspended parliament in June. The LCD then tried, together with the Lesotho Defense Force , to overthrow the government. After negotiations, an agreement was reached on early elections in February 2015.

In the 2015 elections , the LCD only received twelve seats under Metsing, including two direct mandates. From then on he belonged to a coalition led by the DC. At the end of 2016, two wings faced each other: the Ma-Egepeta ("Egyptians") Metsings and the Ma-Israele ("Israelites") of General Secretary Selibe Mochoboroane, who had to leave the party at the end of the year. He then founded the Movement for Economic Change (MEC) party. In the 2017 elections , the LCD received eleven seats; Metsing was the only LCD MP to defend his direct mandate. Since then, the LCD has been part of the opposition. In December 2019, the LCD decided to dissolve the alliance with DC and Popular Front for Democracy that it had concluded in the run-up to the 2017 election .

In February 2020, Metsing was charged with high treason , along with other actors, in connection with the 2014 coup attempt .

Program and structure

The motto of the LCD is ′ Nete, Toka, Khotso (Truth, Justice, Peace). The party is led by a board of directors ( National Executive Committee or komiti e kholo, literally "large committee"). The LCD publishes the weekly Mololi (German: "Der Pfiff").

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Article in the Lesotho Times of February 15, 2012 (English), accessed on February 18, 2012
  2. ↑ Article in the Lesotho Times (English), accessed March 20, 2012
  3. ↑ Results at iec.org.ls ( Memento from March 4, 2015 on WebCite ) (English, PDF)
  4. ↑ Zuma basks in successful mission. ( Memento from March 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) lestimes.com from March 19, 2015 (English)
  5. ↑ LCD faces split. Lesotho Times of December 23, 2016
  6. ↑ LCD suspends Mochoboroane. Lesotho Times, December 30, 2016, accessed January 10, 2017
  7. ↑ Nthakoana Ngatane: Lesotho Congress for Democracy SG has resigned. ( Memento from February 2, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) sabc.co.za from February 1, 2017 (English)
  8. ^ Final elections tally announced. ( Memento of June 8, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Lesotho Times of June 6, 2017 (English)
  9. ↑ Ntsebeng Motsoeli: LCD to go it alone at the polls. lestimes.com dated December 18, 2019, accessed January 6, 2020
  10. ↑ Mochoboroane, Metsing to reappear in court. maserumetro.com of March 2, 2020 (English), accessed on April 7, 2020
  11. ↑ Official website ( Memento of July 22, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (Sesotho), accessed on September 21, 2012
  12. ↑ report at afrol.com (English) retrieved 18 February 2012