The history of people living in the area now known as Lesotho goes back as many as 40,000 years. The present Lesotho emerged as a single polity under paramount chief Moshoeshoe I in 1822. Under Moshoeshoe I, Basutoland joined other tribes in their struggle against the Lifaqane associated with the reign of Shaka Zulu from 1818 to 1828.
Politics of Lesotho takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic constitutional monarchy, whereby the Prime Minister of Lesotho is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of Parliament, the Senate and the National Assembly. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
Bethuel Pakalitha Mosisili is a former Mosotho politician who retired in January 2019. He was Prime Minister of Lesotho from May 1998 to June 2012 and again from March 2015 to June 2017. He led the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD), to a near-total victory in the 1998 election, and under his leadership the party also won majorities in the 2002 and 2007 elections. While serving as Prime Minister, Mosisili was also Minister of Defense.
The Southern African Development Community intervention in Lesotho, codenamed Operation Boleas, was a military invasion launched by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and led by South Africa through its South African National Defence Force into Lesotho to quell a coup d'état.
Thomas Motsoahae "Tom" Thabane is a Mosotho politician who has been Prime Minister of Lesotho since June 2017. Previously he was Prime Minister from June 2012 to March 2015. He is leader of the All Basotho Convention (ABC) political party.
The Basotho National Party is a political party in Lesotho, founded in the 1959 as the Basutoland National Party by Leabua Jonathan. He was Prime Minister from 1965 until the coup of 1986.
The Basutoland Congress Party is a pan-africanist and left-wing political party in Lesotho, led by Ntsukunyane Mphanya.
The Marematlou Freedom Party (MFP) is a political party in Lesotho.
The National Independent Party is a political party in Lesotho.
General Justin Metsing Lekhanya was the Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Chairman of the Military Council of Lesotho from 24 January 1986 to 2 May 1991.
Clement Ntsu Sejabanana Mokhehle was a Lesotho politician. He served as the 3rd Prime Minister of the country from 2 April 1993 to 17 August 1994 and from 14 September 1994 to 29 May 1998.
General elections were held in Lesotho on 17 February 2007. They had originally been scheduled to be held in April or May 2007. In October 2006, Tom Thabane left the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) and formed a new party, the All Basotho Convention (ABC), and 17 other members of parliament joined him. This left the LCD with a narrow majority of 61 out of 120 seats. On the advice of Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili, King Letsie III dissolved parliament on November 24, 2006, and the election was scheduled for February 17, 2007. The bringing forward of the date caused dissatisfaction amongst the opposition, which expressed concern that it would not allow sufficient time for campaigning and electoral preparations. It was believed that the election was called early due to the possibility that there would be further defections from the LCD, depriving it of its majority.
General elections were held in Lesotho on 25 May 2002. The result was a victory for the Lesotho Congress for Democracy, which took over 50% of the vote and 77 of the 120 seats in the National Assembly. It was the first election held in Lesotho under the mixed member proportional representation (MMP) system, with 80 seats elected in first-past-the-post constituencies, and 40 using a proportional representation-based compensatory system. 554,386 of the 831,515 registered voters cast valid votes.
General elections were held in Lesotho between 27 and 29 March 1993, the first full elections since the ruling Basotho National Party annulled the results of the 1970 elections, which they had lost to the Basutoland Congress Party. Of the 736,930 registered voters, 532,678 cast valid votes.
General elections were held in Lesotho on 26 May 2012. The incumbent Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili's newly formed Democratic Congress won a majority of single-member seats. He also won his seat by the second-largest margin of victory. However, they only had a plurality in the overall tally and coalition talks are taking place.
General elections were held in Lesotho 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. Following mediation facilitated by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), King Letsie III on the advice of the incumbent Prime Minister Tom Thabane, dissolved the Eighth Parliament and called a snap election.
Mothetjoa Metsing is a former Deputy Prime Minister of Lesotho. He is a member of the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) and serves in the government of Prime Minister Tom Thabane. In 2014, he was involved in controversy over an alleged coup attempt against the prime minister that was eventually resolved over calls for an early election.
Early general elections were held in Lesotho on 3 June 2017 to elect all 120 seats of the National Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament. The elections were called more than three years ahead of schedule due to a successful vote of no confidence against the incumbent Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili.
The Reformed Congress of Lesotho (RCL) is a political party in Lesotho.
