Early Elections in Lesotho Could Spell Trouble for Democracy
Lesotho Heads for Early Elections
January 22, 2007
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Upon the advice of Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili, Lesotho’s King Letsie III dissolved parliament in November after a significant split in the leading party left it with only a slim majority in parliament.  New elections will be held on February 17, 2007, months earlier than expected.  However, observers fear that the early elections are a political move to prevent an opposition party from gaining popularity and challenging Lesotho’s nearly decade of one-party domination.

Although there are multiple parties in Lesotho, the country has been under the control of the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LDC) since 1998.  Prime Minister Mosisili has held his leadership position since that date as well.  In October, however, Cabinet Minister Thomas Thabane left the LDC with 18 other former-LDC parliamentarians, and formed the All Basotho Convention (ABC).  The ABC hopes to challenge LCD rule in parliament and steer the country towards economic modernization.

Election observers have said that the “sudden move” to dissolve parliament and call new elections “by Lesotho’s powerful Prime Minister is seen as a way of limiting the ABC’s and Mr. Thabane’s powers, as his new party will have little time to organize and raise funds before the 17 February polls.”  The ABC has petitioned for the elections to be postponed but the Lesotho constitution stipulates that elections must be held 90 days after parliament is dissolved.

Lesotho has had a turbulent past with national elections: “The first post-independence elections in 1970 saw its results annulled and the declaration of a national state of emergency.”  The 1998 elections, following a coup in 1986 and another in 1994, resulted in widespread violence as “protests against the election results, army mutinies and political violence resulted in an intervention from South African and Botswana troops, which reinstated the officially elected government” of the LCD.

The countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are concerned with the political developments and have been in consultation with government officials to ensure free and fair elections; Lesotho is planning to abide by the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Elections used by other southern African nations on February 17th.

Sources:
http://www.afrol.com/articles/23890
http://allafrica.com/stories/200701040363.html
http://allafrica.com/stories/200701230019.html
http://www.sadc.int/