Lesotho general election, 2017

Lesotho general election, 2017
All 120 seats in the National Assembly ; 61 seats needed for a majority
	The left side shows constituency winners of the election by the winning party vote strength. The right side shows regional winners of the election for the additional members by their party colours.
Prime Minister before election; Pakalitha Mosisili ; DC	Elected Prime Minister ; Tom Thabane ; ABC

Last updated April 17, 2019

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.^[1]

Lesotho, officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is an enclaved country–the only one in the world outside of the Italian peninsula–within the border of South Africa. It is just over 30,000 km² (11,583 sq mi) in size and has a population of around 2 million. Its capital and largest city is Maseru.

The National Assembly is the lower chamber of Lesotho's bicameral Parliament.

The Parliament of Lesotho consists of two chambers:

Background

After three years out of power, Pakalitha Mosisili returned to office as Prime Minister in the February 2015 general election as leader of the Democratic Congress, defeating Prime Minister Tom Thabane of the All Basotho Convention. However, in November 2016 an agreement was announced between the deputy leader of the Democratic Congress, Monyane Moleleki, and Tom Thabane to remove Mosisili and install Moleleki as Prime Minister.^[2] Moleleki was suspended from the Democratic Congress in December 2016 and launched a new party, the Alliance of Democrats, in January 2017.^[3]

The Democratic Congress is a political party in Lesotho that split from the Lesotho Congress for Democracy. It is led by Mathibeli Mokhothu.

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.

On 12 February 2017 Thabane returned to Lesotho from self-imposed exile, declaring that Prime Minister Mosisili no longer commanded a parliamentary majority and vowing to oust him in a vote of no confidence. He claimed that he was risking his life by returning.^[4]

The new opposition alliance defeated Mosisili in a vote of no confidence on 1 March 2017 and proposed Moleleki as the new Prime Minister;^[5] Mosisili, faced with the choice of stepping aside in favor of Moleleki or calling an early election, chose the latter. He advised King Letsie III to dissolve Parliament, and the King did so on 7 March, despite an opposition effort to obstruct the move.^[6] It was announced on 13 March that an early election would be held on 3 June 2017.^[1]

Electoral system

The 120 members of the National Assembly are elected using the mixed-member proportional representation system, with voters casting a single vote. Eighty members are elected from single-member constituencies by first-past-the-post voting, with the remaining 40 elected from a single nationwide constituency in a closed list as leveling seats. The votes from every constituency are totalled (with votes cast for independent candidates ignored) to give a nationwide total for each party. A quota of the 120 total seats in the National Assembly is then calculated using each party's vote share and the number of seats won in constituencies is deducted in order to give the number of the 40 leveling -seats that a party is due. If the total number of seats due to be awarded is less than 120, the highest remainder method is used to distribute the remaining leveling seats.^[7]

Mixed-member proportional (MMP) representation is a mixed electoral system in which voters get two votes: one to decide the representative for their single-seat constituency, and one for a political party. Seats in the legislature are filled firstly by the successful constituency candidates, and secondly, by party candidates based on the percentage of nationwide or region-wide votes that each party received. The constituency representatives are elected using first-past-the-post voting (FPTP) or another plurality/majoritarian system. The nationwide or region-wide party representatives are, in most jurisdictions, drawn from published party lists, similar to party-list proportional representation. To gain a nationwide representative, parties may be required to achieve a minimum number of constituency candidates, a minimum percentage of the nationwide party vote, or both.

A first-past-the-post electoral system is one in which voters indicate on a ballot the candidate of their choice, and the candidate who receives the most votes wins. This is sometimes described as winner takes all. First-past-the-post voting is a plurality voting method. FPTP is a common, but not universal, feature of electoral systems with single-member electoral divisions, and is practiced in close to one third of countries. Notable examples include Canada, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as most of their current or former colonies and protectorates.

Closed list describes the variant of party-list proportional representation where voters can (effectively) only vote for political parties as a whole and thus have no influence on the party-supplied order in which party candidates are elected. If voters have at least some influence then it is called an open list.

Results

Partial results available by 5 June, with counting for 57 constituencies completed, showed Thabane's opposition party, the ABC, winning 45 constituencies against only eight for Mosisili's party, the Democratic Congress.^[8]

Full results were released on 6 June, confirming a victory for Thabane and the ABC, which won 48 seats against 30 for Mosisili's Democratic Congress.^[9]

Party		Votes	%	Seats			+/–
Party		Votes	%	Constituency	PR	Total	+/–
	All Basotho Convention ^{[lower-alpha 1]}	235,729	40.52	47	1	48	+2
	Democratic Congress	150,172	25.82	26	4	30	–17
	Lesotho Congress for Democracy	52,052	8.95	1	10	11	–1
	Alliance of Democrats	42,686	7.34	1	8	9	New
	Movement for Economic Change	29,420	5.06	1	5	6	New
	Basotho National Party	23,541	4.05	0	5	5	–2
	Popular Front for Democracy	13,200	2.27	1	2	3	+1
	National Independent Party	6,375	1.10	0	1	1	0
	Reformed Congress of Lesotho	4,037	0.69	0	1	1	–1
	Basutoland Congress Party	3,458	0.59	0	1	1	0
	Democratic Party of Lesotho	2,801	0.48	0	1	1	New
	Marematlou Freedom Party	2,761	0.47	0	1	1	0
	Lesotho People's Congress	2,364	0.41	0	0	0	–1
	Basotho Democratic National Party	1,818	0.31	0	0	0	0
	Lesotho Workers' Party	1,711	0.29	0	0	0	0
	Baena	1,393	0.24	0	0	0	0
	Hamore Democratic Party	1,311	0.23	0	0	0	0
	Lekhotla la Mekhoa le Meetlo	1,024	0.18	0	0	0	0
	Majalefa Development Movement	1,024	0.18	0	0	0	New
	True Reconciliation Unity	817	0.14	0	0	0	New
	Basutoland African National Congress	684	0.12	0	0	0	0
	Tsebe Social Democrats	402	0.07	0	0	0	0
	Community Freedom Movement	322	0.06	0	0	0	0
	Basotho Thabeng ea Sinai	279	0.05	0	0	0	New
	Sankatana Social Democracy	246	0.04	0	0	0	New
	All Democratic Cooperation	170	0.03	0	0	0	0
	White Horse Party	139	0.02	0	0	0	0
	African Unity Movement	78	0.01	0	0	0	0
	IND PR	37	0.01	0	0	0	–
	Independent	1,641	0.28	0	0	0	0
Vacant^{[lower-alpha 1]}		–	–	3	0	3	–
Invalid/blank votes		5,617	–	–	–	–	–
Total		581,692	100	80	40	120	0
Registered voters/turnout		1,253,540	46.85	–	–	–	–
Source: IEC

1 2 3 An additional three seats were won by ABC candidates, but the results in those constituencies was declared null, because candidates had died before the election.^[10]

By district

District	ABC	DC	LCD	AD	MEC	BNP	PFD	NIP	Others
Butha-Buthe District	43.38	14.74	10.91	7.97	3.79	1.71	9.46	1.64	6.40
Leribe District	43.30	8.75	22.38	2.25	2.57	3.72	10.23	1.68	5.12
Berea District	50.90	10.63	17.05	6.34	3.29	3.62	1.50	1.19	5.48
Maseru District	51.23	19.96	7.32	9.80	2.45	3.62	0.77	0.53	4.32
Mafeteng District	33.01	35.11	1.83	2.56	18.27	1.45	1.29	0.74	5.74
Mohale's Hoek District	30.11	48.82	-	5.13	7.53	2.29	1.27	0.85	4.00
Quthing District	14.39	52.33	-	7.22	3.26	19.27	1.33	1.19	1.01
Qacha's Nek District	6.64	76.25	-	3.67	4.53	5.66	0.59	0.33	2.33
Thaba-Tseka District	29.59	39.01	-	5.95	5.25	4.34	8.30	1.62	5.94
Mokhotlong District	37.59	39.55	-	3.96	6.14	3.28	1.84	1.87	5.67

Government formation

The ABC said on 6 June that it planned to form a government in coalition with the Alliance of Democrats, the Basotho National Party, and the Reformed Congress of Lesotho.^[9] A government statement on 8 June said that Mosisili had submitted his resignation to King Letsie but would continue in a caretaker capacity.^[11] However, on 9 June, Deputy Prime Minister Mothetjoa Metsing, leader of the Lesotho Congress for Democracy, said that "there is no need for the removal of the existing government in office" and argued for the formation of "a government of national unity" for the sake of national stability.^[12]

Thabane's estranged wife Dipolelo was shot and killed on 14 June.^[13] Thabane was sworn in as Prime Minister on 16 June,^[14] and his cabinet was sworn in on 23 June, including Monyane Moleleki as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs.^[15]

Related Research Articles

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.

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.

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References

1 2 "Lesotho to hold general election on June 3", Africanews, 13 March 2017.
↑ Nthakoana Ngatane, "Lesotho parties to form coalition govt" Archived 2017-03-03 at the Wayback Machine ., SABC News, 24 November 2016.
↑ Nthakoana Ngatane, "Thousands attend inaugural rally in Maseru" Archived 2017-03-03 at the Wayback Machine ., SABC News, 29 January 2017.
↑ "Ex-PM returns to restive Lesotho vowing to win power", Agence France-Presse, 12 February 2017.
↑ "Lesotho set for elections following no-confidence vote against PM Mosisili", Africanews, 2 March 2017.
↑ Nthakoana Ngatane, "Lesotho prepares for general elections" Archived 2017-03-10 at the Wayback Machine ., SABC News, 7 March 2017.
↑ National Assembly Elections 2015 Fact Sheets IEC
↑ Mathabiso Ralengau, "Lesotho opposition leads as vote count passes two-thirds mark", Bloomberg, 5 June 2017.
1 2 "Lesotho: Incumbent Mosisili loses election to former Prime Minister Thabane", Africanews, 6 June 2017.
↑ Final elections tally announced Lesotho Times, 6 June 2017
↑ "Easing fears, Lesotho's PM Mosisili resigns after election loss", Associated Press, 9 June 2017.
↑ "Former Lesotho deputy PM calls for government of national unity", Reuters, 10 June 2017.
↑ "'Killing' of Lesotho PM Thabane's wife raises instability fears", News24, 15 June 2017.
↑ Ismail Akwei, "'Devastated' Lesotho PM inaugurated after fatal shooting of wife", Africanews, 16 June 2017.
↑ "New cabinet sworn in", LENA, 23 June 2017.

External links

IEC Lesotho

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[ABC-1] 1 2 3 An additional three seats were won by ABC candidates, but the results in those constituencies was declared null, because candidates had died before the election.^[10]

[Hold-2] 1 2 "Lesotho to hold general election on June 3", Africanews, 13 March 2017.

[3] Nthakoana Ngatane, "Lesotho parties to form coalition govt" Archived 2017-03-03 at the Wayback Machine ., SABC News, 24 November 2016.

[4] Nthakoana Ngatane, "Thousands attend inaugural rally in Maseru" Archived 2017-03-03 at the Wayback Machine ., SABC News, 29 January 2017.

[5] "Ex-PM returns to restive Lesotho vowing to win power", Agence France-Presse, 12 February 2017.

[6] "Lesotho set for elections following no-confidence vote against PM Mosisili", Africanews, 2 March 2017.

[7] Nthakoana Ngatane, "Lesotho prepares for general elections" Archived 2017-03-10 at the Wayback Machine ., SABC News, 7 March 2017.

[8] National Assembly Elections 2015 Fact Sheets IEC

[9] Mathabiso Ralengau, "Lesotho opposition leads as vote count passes two-thirds mark", Bloomberg, 5 June 2017.

[AN-10] 1 2 "Lesotho: Incumbent Mosisili loses election to former Prime Minister Thabane", Africanews, 6 June 2017.

[11] Final elections tally announced Lesotho Times, 6 June 2017

[12] "Easing fears, Lesotho's PM Mosisili resigns after election loss", Associated Press, 9 June 2017.

[13] "Former Lesotho deputy PM calls for government of national unity", Reuters, 10 June 2017.

[14] "'Killing' of Lesotho PM Thabane's wife raises instability fears", News24, 15 June 2017.

[15] Ismail Akwei, "'Devastated' Lesotho PM inaugurated after fatal shooting of wife", Africanews, 16 June 2017.

[16] "New cabinet sworn in", LENA, 23 June 2017.