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This article lists political parties in Lesotho .
| This article needs to be updated.(October 2022) |
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This article lists political parties in Lesotho .
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Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho, formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. As an enclave of South Africa, with which it shares a 1,106 km (687 mi) border, it is the largest sovereign enclave in the world, and the only one outside of the Italian Peninsula. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the highest peak in Southern Africa. It has an area of over 30,000 km2 (11,600 sq mi) and has a population of about two million. Its capital and largest city is Maseru. The country is also known by the nickname The Mountain Kingdom/The Kingdom in the Sky.
The history of people living in the area now known as Lesotho goes back as many as 400 years. Present Lesotho emerged as a single polity under King Moshoeshoe I in 1822. Under Moshoeshoe I, Basotho joined other clans in their struggle against the Lifaqane associated with famine and the reign of Shaka Zulu from 1818 to 1828.
Bethuel Pakalitha Mosisili is a former Mosotho politician who was the fourth 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 Defence.
The current national flag of Lesotho, adopted on the 40th anniversary of Lesotho's independence on 4 October 2006, features a horizontal blue, white, and green tricolour with a black mokorotlo in the center. The design is intended to reflect a state that is both at peace internally and with its only neighbour South Africa, replacing the old flag design that featured a military emblem of a shield, spear and knobkerrie.
Joseph Leabua Jonathan was the first prime minister of Lesotho. He succeeded Chief Sekhonyana Nehemia Maseribane following a by-election and held that post from 1965 to 1986.
The Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) is a political party in Lesotho.
The Basotho National Party is a political party in Lesotho, founded in 1959 in colonial Basutoland as the Basutoland National Party by Leabua Jonathan. He was Prime Minister from the 1965 general election until the 1986 coup d'état.
The Basutoland Congress Party is a pan-Africanist and left-wing political party in Lesotho.
General Justin Metsing Lekhanya was the Minister of Defence and Chairman of the Military Council of Lesotho from 24 January 1986 to 2 May 1991.
Ntsu Mokhehle was a Lesotho politician. He founded Basutoland African Congress (BAC) in 1952. He founded Basutoland Congress Party in 1957 then later in 1997 founded Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD). He served as the third prime minister of Lesotho from 2 April 1993 to 17 August 1994 and from 14 September 1994 to 29 May 1998.
Potlako Kitchener Leballo was an Africanist who led the Pan Africanist Congress until 1979. Leballo was co-founder of the Basutoland African Congress in 1952, a World War II veteran and primary school headmaster.
The Alliance of Congress Parties is an electoral alliance in Lesotho, consisting of the Lesotho Peoples' Congress, the Basutoland African Congress, and the Basotho Congress Party. In the 17 February 2007 parliamentary election, the alliance won 3 out of 120 seats.
Lesotho–South Africa relations refers to the current and historical bilateral relations of South Africa and Lesotho. Lesotho, which is surrounded by South Africa, depends on South Africa for most of its economic affairs, and its foreign policy is often aligned with that of Pretoria. Both are member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, African Union, Southern African Customs Union and Southern African Development Community. Lesotho, along with Eswatini, have been described as satellite states of South Africa.
General elections were held in Lesotho on 27 and 28 January 1970, the first since independence in 1966. They were won by the opposition Basutoland Congress Party, but without announcing the results, the ruling Basotho National Party carried out a coup d'état by declaring a state of emergency, annulling the election, dissolving parliament and suspending the constitution. King Moshoeshoe II was sent into exile after expressing disapproval of the actions.
The Lesotho Liberation Army (LLA) was a guerrilla movement in Lesotho, formed in the mid-1970s and connected to the anti-Apartheid Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLA). It was the armed wing of the Basutoland Congress Party (BCP), a pan-Africanist and left-wing political party founded in 1952, which opposed the regime of Prime Minister Leabua Jonathan.
Mosalemane is a constituency in Lesotho with 14,001 registered voters. The constituency was won in 1965 by Basotho National Party (BNP) member J K Rampeta. In 1970 it was won also by BNP even though the 1970 elections were marred by violence. In 1993 Lijane Selikane won the election as member of the Basutoland Congress Party (BCP). He further won it in 1998 and 2002 under a new party Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD).
The Alliance of Democrats is a political party in Lesotho.
General elections were held in Lesotho on 7 October 2022 to elect all 120 members of the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament.
