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Lesotho
general election, 2015
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A general election in Lesotho was held on 28
February 2015 for all 120 seats of the National Assembly, the lower house of
the Parliament of Lesotho, more
than two years ahead of schedule due to the 2014 political crisis.[1]
Following mediation facilitated by the Southern African Development
Community (SADC),[2]
King Letsie III on the advice of the incumbent
Prime Minister Tom Thabane, dissolved the Eighth Parliament and called a snap
election.[3]
Lesotho uses the mixed-member proportional
representation voting system. More than 1.2 million voters had been
registered by the Independent Electoral Commission.[4]
The army was confined to the barracks on the
election day.[5]
The opposition Democratic Congress managed to form a coalition government as no party achieved an
outright majority.[6]
Voter turnout was at 46.61%.
Contents
Background
Main article: 2014 Lesotho political crisis
After
the 2012 election, Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili's Democratic Congress failed to attain a
majority; and thus a coalition government was formed among the
three opposition parties: All Basotho Convention (ABC), Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD)
and the Basotho National Party (BCP). The government
was led by ABC's Tom Thabane, who served as the new Prime Minister; whilst the
leader of LCD, Mothetjoa Metsing was appointed as the Deputy
Prime Minister.[7]
Following
political tensions and the suspension of the National Assembly over the
controversial change of the head of the army from Lieutenant General Kennedy Tlali Kamoli to
Lieutenant General Maaparankoe Mahao, an
attempted coup d'état forced Prime Minister Tom Thabane
to flee the country. He then returned under cover of South African and Namibian police, who
guarded him around-the-clock. Under the auspices of the SADC, mediation led by
South African Deputy President Cyril
Ramaphosa resulted in a call for an early election. The national elections
took place on 28 February.[8]
Thabane was backed by the national police, while his deputy Mothetjoa
Metsing was backed by the army, which refused to recognise the change
in army leadership.
On
17 October, the National Assembly reconvened in a bid to avert the political
crisis, with Thabane's advisor Tumisang Mosotho saying "It’s a milestone.
We want to hope this is the first step in the right direction, in liberating
our country from the danger that has surrounded us these past few months."[9]
Senate Chief Whip Khoabane Theko said:
"This is what we can call maybe the beginning of the process that takes us
to the elections, because we are going to have a budget and maybe deliberate
other laws … ahead of our elections from here on."[10]
Electoral system
The
120 members of the National Assembly are elected in two
groups; 80 are elected in single-member constituencies by first-past-the-post voting, with 40
elected by proportional representation in a single
nationwide constituency. Voters cast one vote.[11]
The 40 proportional seats are allocated on a compensatory system, in order to
reflect the number of votes received by each party.[12]
Campaign
Thabane
said that he would run again seeking a new mandate after signing the Maseru
Facilitation Declaration.[13]
Results
Election
observer missions were deployed to the kingdom from the African
Union, the Commonwealth of Nations and SADC; and were
led by former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila
Odinga, former Botswana President Festus
Mogae and South African International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane respectively.[2]
UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon congratulated the citizens for conducting a
peaceful election.[14]
The SADC Election Observer Mission concluded that the elections were
"peaceful, transparent, credible, free and fair."[2]
The
Democratic Congress formed a coalition government with the Lesotho Congress for
Democracy and five other smaller parties as no party achieved an outright majority. Pakalitha Mosisili will take over as
Prime Minister whilst incumbent Deputy Prime Minister Mothetjoa Metsing will
retain his position.[6]
ABC: 46 seats
Others: 8 seats
BNP: 7 seats
LCD: 12 seats
DC: 47 seats
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Party
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Votes
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%
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Seats
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+/–
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|||
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Total
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218,573
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38.76%
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37
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10
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47
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 1 |
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215,022
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38.13%
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40
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6
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46
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 16 |
||
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56,467
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10.01%
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2
|
10
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12
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14 |
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31,508
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5.59%
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1
|
6
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7
|
2 |
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9,829
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1.74%
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0
|
2
|
2
|
 |
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6,731
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1.19%
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0
|
2
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2
|
|
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5,404
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0.96%
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0
|
1
|
1
|
1 |
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3,413
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0.61%
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0
|
1
|
1
|
|
||
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2,721
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0.48%
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0
|
1
|
1
|
|
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1,951
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0.35%
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0
|
1
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1
|
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Invalid/blank votes
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–
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–
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–
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–
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–
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Total
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563,972
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100
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80
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40
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120
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–
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Registered voters/turnout
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1,210,079
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46.61%
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–
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–
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–
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–
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|
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Source: IEC Lesotho (PDF)
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References
1.
· "Lesotho
votes in elections hoped to resolve tensions". Deutsche Welle. 28
February 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
· · "Statement
by SADC EOM" (PDF).
Maseru: Southern African Development Community. 2 March 2015. Retrieved 2 March
2015.
· · "Dissolution
of the Parliament" (PDF) (Press release). Office of Government Secretary. 4 December
2014. Retrieved 2015-03-02.
· · "Health
of the Election Voters Register". Independent Electoral Commission. 10
February 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
· · "Lesotho's
opposition forms coalition after tight election". Reuters. 4 March
2015. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
· · Jordan, Michael (13
February 2015). "Climate
of uncertainty and fear haunts upcoming Lesotho poll". Mail
& Guardian. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
· · Scott Rosenberg;
Richard F. Weisfelder (13 June 2013). Historical
Dictionary of Lesotho. Scarecrow Press. pp. 146–. ISBN 978-0-8108-7982-9.
14.
· "Statement
attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General on the Parliamentary
Elections in Lesotho". United Nations. 1 March 2015. Retrieved 2 March
2015.
