Parliamentary elections in Lesotho 2017

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

The parliamentary elections in Lesotho 2017 took place on June 3, 2017 in the Kingdom of Lesotho . The National Assembly was elected, which elects the Prime Minister and thus the government. It was an early election ; the regular date would have been in 2020. The official final result was announced on June 6, 2017. The All Basotho Convention won the most seats, so Thomas Thabane was elected Prime Minister by a coalition of four parties.

Electoral process

80 direct mandates were awarded according to majority voting and 40 mandates according to proportional representation. These 40 mandates were determined on the basis of party lists and awarded to the parties that were disproportionately represented according to direct mandates - calculated on the number of 120 members. Each voter had a vote that he could only give to a party or an independent that had put up a candidate in his constituency or who was running there.

Starting position

In the 2015 elections , as in the 2012 elections, there was no party with an absolute majority . The Democratic Congress (DC) received 47 of the 120 seats, the All Basotho Convention (ABC) 46 seats, and the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) 12 seats. The Basotho National Party (BNP) also received seven seats, the Popular Front for Democracy (PFD) and the Reformed Congress of Lesotho two seats each, and the National Independent Party (NIP), the Basutoland Congress Party (BCP), the Lesotho People's Congress (LPC) and the Marematlou Freedom Party (MFP) one seat each.

The DC under Pakalitha Mosisili , the LCD under Mothetjoa Metsing , the PFD and the four parties with one seat each formed a coalition government with 65 parliamentarians. Mosisili became prime minister and Metsing became his deputy. All coalition parties were represented in the cabinet (see also: Cabinet Mosisili IV ).

The coalition government's term of office was marked by great instability. The influence of the Lesotho Defense Force (LDF) under its then commander Kennedy Tlali Kamoli could only be ended by the intervention of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The leaders of the three opposition parties ABC, BNP and RCL fled to South Africa in 2015 . The former LDF commander Maaparankoe Mahao was first demoted and then murdered. At the end of 2016, the DC faction split into two wings, one of which founded the Alliance of Democrats (AD) party under Monyane Moleleki . The National Assembly was closed for an indefinite period. At the reopening in February 2017, to which the opposition leaders also returned to Lesotho, the members of the AD and an LCD deputy professed their support for the opposition. He lost a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Mosisili on March 1, 2017. He asked King Letsie III. to dissolve parliament and set a date for new elections, but had not previously consulted the Council of State , as required by the constitution . Letsie III. scheduled new elections for June 3. The opposition parties, which otherwise would have formed a government under Moleleki, protested in vain.

Starting with the election announcement on March 13, 2017, there were only six days for voters to register.

While the former governing parties DC, LCD and PFD formed an electoral alliance that included a candidate for the 80 constituencies for DC 54, LCD 25 and PFD, ABC chairman Thomas "Tom" Thabane opposed such an alliance of opposition parties . Instead, he said in April 2017 that he wanted to win all constituencies. According to press reports, his party's election campaign was financed by the Gupta family of Indian origin , who had previously become known for influencing the South African government under Jacob Zuma .

1,257,498 people registered for the elections, including 699,173 women.

In three constituencies, the election was postponed to September 30, 2017 due to the death of candidates.

The election is being monitored by a commission from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) , among others . It is headed by the Foreign Minister of Tanzania , Augustine P. Mahiga. There are a total of six commissions with a total of 148 election observers.

Participating parties

26 parties ran for election, including these parties that held seats from 2015 to 2017:

  • DC under Pakalitha Mosisili
  • ABC under Thomas Thabane
  • LCD under Mothetjoa Metsing
  • BNP under Thesele 'Maseribane
  • PFD under Lekhetho Rakuoane
  • RCL under Keketso Rantšo
  • NIP under Kimetso Mathaba
  • BCP under Tšoeu Thulo Mahlakeng
  • LPC under Sefako Phosisi
  • MFP under Vincent Malebo

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

  • Alliance of Democrats (AD)
  • Baena (BAENA)
  • Basotho African National Congress (BANC)
  • Basotho National Democratic Party (BDNP)
  • Basotho Thabeng ea Sinai (BTS)
  • Community Freedom Movement (CFM)
  • Democratic Party of Lesotho (DPL)
  • Hamore Democratic Party (HDP)
  • Lekhotla la mekhoa le meetlo (LMM)
  • Lesotho Workers' Party (LWP)
  • Majalefa Development Movement (MDM)
  • Movement for Economic Change (MEC)
  • Sankatana Social Democracy (SSD)
  • Sefofane ("independent" list of Remaketse Sehlabaka)
  • True Reconciliation Unity (TRU)
  • Tsebe Social Democrats (TSD)
  • White Horse Party (WHP)

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. In addition, independents ran for the direct elections .

Election result

Sources: as of September 30, 2017

51
30th
11
9
6th
5
3
1
1
1
1
1
51 30th 11 9 6th 5 3 1 1 1 1 1 
A total of 120 seats
  • ABC : 51
  • DC : 30
  • LCD : 11
  • AD : 9
  • MEC : 6
  • BNP : 5
  • PFD : 3
  • NIP : 1
  • BCP : 1
  • DPL : 1
  • MFP : 1
  • RCL : 1
Political party Share of votes Direct mandates List mandates Mandates (total) +/-
All Basotho Convention (ABC) 40.52% 50 1 01 51 1 +5
Democratic Congress (DC) 25.82% 26th 04th 30th −17
Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) 8.95% 01 10 11 −1
Alliance of Democrats (AD) 7.34% 01 08th 09 +9
Movement for Economic Change (MEC) 5.06% 01 05 06th +6
Basotho National Party (BNP) 4.05% 00 05 05 −2
Popular Front for Democracy (PFD) 2.27% 01 02 03 +1
National Independent Party (NIP) 1.10% 00 01 01 0
Reformed Congress of Lesotho (RCL) 0.69% 00 01 01 −1
Basotho Congress Party (BCP) 0.59% 00 01 01 0
Democratic Party of Lesotho (DPL) 0.48% 00 01 01 +1
Marematlou Freedom Party (MFP) 0.47% 00 01 01 0
Others 2.66% 00 00 00 −1
All in all 100.00% 80 40 120

1 Three seats were awarded in by-elections on September 30, 2017. They went to the ABC. On June 3, an election had already taken place in these three constituencies, but it was only relevant for the distribution of seats according to proportional representation.

The turnout was around 47%.

reception

UN General Secretary António Guterres congratulated the people of Lesotho on the peaceful elections.

South Africa's Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane warned a few days after the election date of a possible coup by the Lesotho Defense Force .

consequences

The ABC, which won the most seats, declared after the elections that it wanted to form a coalition government with AD, BNP and RCL. Mosisili announced on June 8th that he would resign from his position. The separated wife Thabanes was shot dead by unknown perpetrators on June 14 ; Nevertheless, Thabane's swearing-in as the new Prime Minister took place on June 16, 2017, as planned. The Thabane II cabinet was formed in two steps by July 14, 2017.

The government was known as the 4 × 4 coalition (about "four-wheel drive coalition"). Thabane was also so harassed by the majority of his ABC as well as the DC that he resigned on May 19, 2020; the following day Moeketsi Majoro (also ABC) was sworn in as the new Prime Minister. His cabinet includes representatives from ABC, DC, BNP, MEC, PFD and RCL.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lesotho to hold general election on June 3. africanews.com, March 13, 2017, accessed March 18, 2017
  2. ↑ LCD denies prssuring king. lestimes.com, March 17, 2017, accessed March 19, 2017
  3. ↑ Last chance to register for Lesotho elections. ( Memento from April 20, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) sabc.co.za from March 19, 2017 (English), accessed on March 20, 2017
  4. ^ Thabane rules out election pact. Lesotho Times, April 7, 2017, accessed April 7, 2017
  5. ^ Lesotho election a two-horse race. news24.com from June 4, 2017 (English), accessed June 4, 2017
  6. ↑ IEC speaks on poll preps. Lesotho Times, May 5, 2017, accessed May 9, 2017
  7. ↑ Bumpy road ahead of Lesotho poll. southernafrican.news of May 22, 2017, accessed May 23, 2017; another by-election was due later
  8. ↑ Message from iec.org.ls (English), accessed on May 23, 2017
  9. ↑ More than 1.2 million voters registered for Lesotho elections. ( Memento from May 28, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) sabc.co.za from May 24, 2017 (English), accessed on May 27, 2017
  10. ↑ a b Candidate Lists ( Memento from May 16, 2017 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on May 17, 2017
  11. ^ Final elections tally announced. ( Memento of June 8, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Lesotho Times , June 6, 2017.
  12. ↑ Numbers of votes to determine the seats according to proportional representation
  13. ↑ ABC wins three more seats. Lesotho Times, October 7, 2017, accessed October 8, 2017
  14. ^ UN chief congratulates people of Lesotho on peaceful national elections. un.org, June 8, 2017, accessed June 9, 2017
  15. ^ Nkoana-Mashabane warns against coup in Lesotho. ewn.co.za on June 12, 2017, accessed June 12, 2017
  16. ^ Lesotho's Thabane to form coalition government. channelafrica.co.za, June 7, 2017, accessed June 8, 2017
  17. ^ Easing fears, Lesotho's PM resigns after election losses. washingtonpost.com, June 9, 2017, accessed June 9, 2017
  18. ^ Lesotho: Tom Thabane's inauguration still on despite wife's shooting. news24.com from June 15, 2017 (English), accessed June 15, 2017
  19. ↑ Lesotho's new cabinet sworn in. Newsaf.cgtn.com of May 23, 2020 (English), accessed on June 1, 2020