EISA Regional Observer Mission to Lesotho 2007 National Assembly Elections

Arrival statement

EISA is pleased to announce the arrival of its Election Observer Mission to the National Assembly Elections in Lesotho scheduled for Saturday 17 February 2007. The Mission is led by Sir Ketumile Masire, Former President of Botswana and is present in the country at the invitation extended by the Independent Electoral Commission of Lesotho. EISA's Executive Director, Mr Denis Kadima is the Deputy Mission Leader.

The mission consists of 17 members and includes representatives from electoral commissions and civil society organisations from Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The mission is based at the Lesotho Sun Hotel, Boardroom 3 in Maseru.

Objectives and guidelines

The overall objective of the mission is in line with EISA's vision of promoting credible elections and democratic governance in Africa. Specific objectives include the following:

• assess whether the conditions exist for the conduct of elections that allow the people of Lesotho to freely express their will
• assess and determine whether the elections are conducted in accordance with the electoral legislative framework of Lesotho
• determine whether the final results of the electoral process as a whole reflect the wishes of the people of Lesotho
• assess whether the elections meet the benchmarks set out in the Principles for Election Management, Monitoring and Observation in the SADC Region (PEMMO), developed under the auspices of EISA and the Electoral Commissions Forum of SADC countries (ECF)

PEMMO was produced after 3 years of work by the ECF and EISA, in consultation with CSOs who work in the field of elections. Subsequently, the election principles, which serve as benchmarks in the conduct and assessment of elections in the SADC region, were adopted on 6 November 2003 in Johannesburg, South Africa. PEMMO has been utilised in the assessment of all elections held in the SADC region since April 2004.

Deployment and activities

• Deployment of observers follows a pre-election assessment mission which was in the country from 9 to 12 January 2007
• The mission's advance team arrived in the country on 8 February followed by the arrival of the substantive team of observers on 11 February 2007
• Observers will attend a briefing on 12 and 13 February where they will be addressed by electoral stakeholders

On Wednesday 14 February 2007, EISA will deploy teams throughout selected districts in Lesotho where they will meet electoral stakeholders, including electoral officials, representatives of political parties, and the media, CSOs and other observers and the voters ahead of the elections. On Election Day, 17 February 2007, the EISA teams will observe the voting and counting processes at the polling stations.

On Sunday 18 February 2007, all EISA teams will reconvene in Maseru where an interim statement expressing the mission's preliminary views and recommendations on the elections will be issued. The principles enshrined in the PEMMO will inform and guide the Mission's assessment of the polling and results processes, as well as the electoral environment as a whole. Selected members of the mission will remain in Lesotho until 27 February 2007 to observe post-polling activities, including the announcement of results.

The mission undertakes to cooperate closely with the Lesotho electoral stakeholders and other observers and strives to act, at every stage of the electoral process under scrutiny, with impartiality, objectivity and independence.

About EISA

EISA is a regional non-profit organisation established in 1996 and headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa with field offices in Angola (Luanda), the Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa) and Mozambique (Maputo). Its vision is to promote credible elections and democratic governance in Africa. This vision is executed through the organisational mission to strengthen electoral processes, good governance, human rights and democratic values through research, capacity building, advocacy and other targeted interventions. EISA services electoral commissions, political parties, civil society organisations, governments and other institutions operating in the democracy and governance fields in Africa.

Sir Ketumile Masire, Mission Leader