General election in Lesotho 2015

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Bethuel Pakalitha Mosisili (DC)
Thomas "Tom" Thabane (ABC)
Mothetjoa Metsing (LCD)

The parliamentary elections in Lesotho 2015 took place on February 28, 2015 in the Kingdom of Lesotho . The National Assembly was elected, which elects the Prime Minister and thus the government.

Starting position

Since a change in the electoral law in 1998, 80 direct mandates have been awarded according to majority voting and 40 mandates according to proportional representation. These 40 mandates are determined on the basis of party lists and are awarded to the parties that, based on direct mandates - calculated on the number of 120 members - are disproportionately represented. Every voter has one vote that he can only give to a party or an independent who has put up a candidate in his constituency or who is running there.

In the 2012 elections , for the first time in Lesotho's history, there was no party with an absolute majority . The Democratic Congress (DC) received 48 of the 120 seats, the All Basotho Convention (ABC) 30 seats, and the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) 26 seats. In addition, the Basotho National Party (BNP) received five seats, the Popular Front for Democracy (PFD) three seats and the National Independent Party (NIP) two seats; One seat each went to the Basotho Batho Democratic Party (BBDP), the Basutoland Congress Party (BCP), the Basotho Democratic National Party (BDNP), the Lesotho People's Congress (LPC), the Lesotho Workers' Party (LWP) and the Marematlou Freedom Party (MFP).

The ABC under Tom Thabane , the LCD under Mothetjoa Metsing and the BNP under Thesele 'Maseribane formed a coalition government with 61 parliamentarians to keep the former ruling Democratic Congress under Pakalitha Mosisili out of power. Thabane became Prime Minister, Metsing his deputy, 'Maseribane became Minister for Equality, Youth and Sport.

In 2014 at the latest, the LCD was dissatisfied with its role as ABC's junior partner and complained about the prime minister's often unauthorized actions. She negotiated a change of government with the DC and repeatedly threatened her coalition partners with a vote of no confidence until Thabane suspended parliament in June 2014. When Thabane finally wanted to depose the commander of the Lesotho Defense Force (LDF), Kennedy Tlali Kamoli , the army attempted a coup against Thabane, the BNP chairman 'Maseribane and the Lesotho police , which was only affected by the intervention of the other Southern states African Development Corporation (SADC), especially South Africa, could be terminated. In return, Thabane had to accept an election date that was brought forward by over two years. Thabane and several other politicians were henceforth under the protection of South African and Namibian police officers; There were several shootings initiated by Lesothian soldiers. In the Maseru Facilitation Declaration negotiated by South African Vice President Cyril Ramaphosa , the party leaders pledged to respect the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and to accept the election result.

Several members of the LCD, including former General Secretary Keketso Rantšo and Vice-Chair Motloheloa Phooko, founded the Reformed Congress of Lesotho (RCL) in December 2014 .

At the beginning of 2015, the chairman of the IEC, Justice Mahapela Lehohla, pointed out that the electoral rolls were incorrect, that important IEC computers had been stolen and that it was hardly possible to hold a valid election. On February 12, 2015, the lists for the seats under proportional representation were published.

Participating parties

23 parties ran for election, including these parties that held seats from 2012 to 2015:

  • DC under Pakalitha Mosisili
  • ABC under Tom Thabane
  • LCD under Mothetjoa Metsing
  • BNP under Thesele 'Maseribane
  • PFD under Lekhetho Rakuoane
  • NIP under Kimetso Mathaba
  • BBDP under Geremane Ramathebane
  • BCP under Tšoeu Thulo Mahlakeng
  • BDNP under Pelele A. Letsoela
  • LPC under Molahlehi Tiisetso Letlotlo
  • LWP under Macaefa Billy
  • MFP under Vincent Malebo

Furthermore, these parties competed that were not represented in the last National Assembly:

  • African Democratic Congress (ADC)
  • Africa Unity Movement (AUM)
  • Baena (BAENA)
  • Basotho African National Congress (BANC)
  • Community Freedom Movement (CFM)
  • Hamore Democratic Party (HDP)
  • Lekhotla la mekhoa le meetlo (LMM)
  • Progressive Democrats (PD)
  • Reformed Congress of Lesotho (RCL)
  • Tsebe Social Democrats (TSD)
  • White Horse Party (WHP)

1116 candidates were allowed to run as direct candidates, including 337 women and 24 independents. The even-numbered positions on all party lists were reserved for women. Only the list of the Reformed Congress of Lesotho led women in the odd positions.

1,216,021 eligible voters were registered before the elections.

procedure

Candidates in the 80 constituencies and politicians on electoral lists for the remaining 40 seats were available for election. The election took place on February 28, 2015 (Saturday) from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. local time.

400 foreign police officers from SADC countries monitored the election process. The local soldiers had to stay in the barracks on election day.

The course of the election was observed by the SADC Electoral Observation Mission (SEOM; German for example: "Wahlbeobachtungsmission der SADC"). The delegation was led by the South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane . Other observer missions provided the African Union with the Kenyan Raila Odinga in the lead, the Commonwealth of Nations headed by Festus Mogae of Botswana and the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa .

Result

Distribution of seats after the election
  • DC
  • ABC
  • LCD
  • BNP
  • Others

    • The counting of votes ended on March 3rd. The ABC won 40 direct mandates, mostly in the northwest and in larger cities, the DC won its 37 mandates in the center, south and southeast. On March 4, the proportional representation allocation was published. Since the DC had more voters than the ABC, the DC received more mandates and is thus the strongest parliamentary group. A total of ten parties were able to win seats.

    563,972 people (46.4% of those eligible to vote) took part in the election. According to the election observers, the elections were free and fair.

    Political party Result Direct mandates List mandates Mandates +/-
    Democratic Congress (DC) 38.8% 37 10 47 −1
    All Basotho Convention (ABC) 38.1% 40 6th 46 +16
    Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) 10.0% 2 10 12 −14
    Basotho National Party (BNP) 5.6% 1 6th 7th +2
    Popular Front for Democracy (PFD) 1.7% 0 2 2 −1
    Reformed Congress of Lesotho (RCL) 1.2% 0 2 2 +2
    National Independent Party (NIP) 1.0% 0 1 1 −1
    Marematlou Freedom Party (MFP) 0.6% 0 1 1 ± 0
    Basutoland Congress Party (BCP) 0.5% 0 1 1 ± 0
    Lesotho People's Congress (LPC) 0.3% 0 1 1 ± 0
    Basotho Democratic National Party (BDNP) 0.3% 0 0 0 −1
    African Democratic Congress (ADC) 0.3% 0 0 0 -
    Baena (BAENA) 0.2% 0 0 0 -
    Basotho Batho Democratic Party (BBDP) 0.2% 0 0 0 -1
    Community Freedom Movement (CFM) 0.2% 0 0 0 -
    Hamore Democratic Party (HDP) 0.2% 0 0 0 -
    Lekhotla la mekhoa le meetlo (LMM) 0.2% 0 0 0 -
    Lesotho Workers' Party (LWP) 0.1% 0 0 0 −1
    Africa Unity Movement (AUM) 0.1% 0 0 0 -
    Basotho African National Congress (BANC) 0.1% 0 0 0 -
    Progressive Democrats (PD) 0.1% 0 0 0 -
    Tsebe Social Democrats (TSD) 0.1% 0 0 0 -
    White Horse Party (WHP) 0.0% 0 0 0 -
    total 100.00% 80 40 120

    consequences

    On March 5, the Chairs of DC, LCD, PFD, MFP, NIP, BCP and LPC decided to form a coalition and elect the Chair of the DC, Mosisili, as Prime Minister. Mosisili had already ruled from 1998 to 2012.

    On March 30, the Mosisili IV cabinet was sworn in.

    In May 2015, the leaders of the three opposition parties (ABC, BNP and RCL) fled to South Africa because they feared they would be persecuted and killed by the LDF. For example, the former military commander Maaparankoe Mahao , whom Thabane had appointed, was murdered in June 2015. Since June 23, 2015, the parliamentarians of the opposition parties have been boycotting parliamentary sessions.

    In November 2016, the DC faction broke up; several DC ministers, including Monyane Moleleki , left the cabinet. Moleleki and Thabane announced on November 24th the formation of a "unity government" with Moleleki as Prime Minister and Thabane as deputy, including the three previous opposition parties. However, the National Assembly was closed "indefinitely" by the Speaker of Parliament, so that no vote can take place. In early December 2016, Moleleki founded the Alliance of Democrats in order to switch to the opposition side when parliament reopened. The three opposition leaders who had fled returned from their exile on February 12, 2017. On March 1, 2017, Mosisili's government lost a vote of no confidence . On March 7, 2017, King Letsie III accepted. New elections within three months.

    Web links

    Individual evidence

    1. ↑ Climate of uncertainty and fear haunts upcoming Lesotho poll. Mail & Guardian of February 13, 2015 (English), accessed February 23, 2015
    2. ↑ Ramaphosa's intervention in Lesotho bares fruit. ( Memento from December 23, 2014 in the web archive archive.today ) sabc.co.za on December 11, 2014 (English), accessed on December 23, 2014
    3. ^ Of elections and mushrooming parties. ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) publiceyenews.com from December 15, 2014 (English)
    4. ^ "Lesotho not ready for elections": IEC boss. lestimes.com of January 8, 2015 (English), accessed January 16, 2015
    5. ↑ a b Candidate Lists ( Memento from October 13, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
    6. ↑ Candidates by gender ( memento from February 19, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (English), accessed on February 19, 2015
    7. ^ All set for poll. lestimes.com on January 29, 2015, accessed February 2, 2015
    8. ^ Tension high as Lesotho goes to the polls. Deutsche Welle from February 26, 2015, accessed on February 26, 2015
    9. ↑ a b Results at iec.org.ls ( Memento from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (English; PDF)
    10. ^ Mosisili returns to power. lestimes.com of March 5, 2015 (English), accessed March 6, 2015
    11. ^ Metsing warns opposition MPs. sundayexpress.co.ls, December 14, 2015, accessed December 20, 2015
    12. ↑ PM hits back at DC NEC. Lesotho Times, November 18, 2016, accessed November 23, 2016
    13. ^ Lesotho parties seal deal for government of national unity, want Mosisili out. news24.com from November 25, 2016 (English), accessed November 25, 2016
    14. ^ Moleleki-Thabane alliance 'intact'. Lesotho Times, December 16, 2016, accessed December 16, 2016
    15. ↑ Lesotho teeters as former PM returns. timeslive.co.za on February 14, 2017, accessed February 14, 2017
    16. ^ Pakalitha Mosisili loses parliament vote. Al Jazeera dated March 2, 2017, accessed March 3, 2017