Lesotho: National Assembly Election results 2002
Updated May 2006
The 2002 National Assembly election was conducted according to a mixed member system, with a two-thirds of the seats (80) allocated according to a first-past the-post single-member constituency plurality system (FPTP) and the remaining third (40) on a proportional representation compensatory system (PR).
The purpose of the compensatory seats (PR) is to partially remedy the defects of the winner-takes-all constituency system (FPTP) and ensure that parties with significant voter support are not wholly unrepresented in the National Assembly. Had this system not been in place, for instance, the Basotho National Party (BNP) would have had no seats in the 2002 National Assembly, despite having won over 22% of the vote.
Electoral statistics
| Registered Voters | 831 315 |
| Districts | 10 |
| Constituencies | 80 |
| Polling Stations | 2 471 |
| Parties | 19 |
| Party Nominees | 770 |
| Constituency Nominees | 1 085 |
| Independent Candidates | 32 |
Party seats won
| Party | No votes | % Votes | FPTP seats | PR seats | Total seats | % Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) | 304 316 | 54.8 | 79 | - | 79 | 65.8 |
| Basotho National Party (BNP) | 124 234 | 22.4 | - | 21 | 21 | 17.5 |
| Lesotho People's Congress (LPC) | 32 046 | 5.8 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4.2 |
| National Independent Party (NIP) | 30 346 | 5.5 | - | 5 | 5 | 4.2 |
| Basutoland African Congress (BAC) | 16 095 | 2.9 | - | 3 | 3 | 2.5 |
| Basotho Congress Party (BCP) | 14 584 | 2.7 | - | 3 | 3 | 2.5 |
| Lesotho Workers Party (LWP) | 7 788 | 1.4 | - | 1 | 1 | 0.8 |
| Marema-Tlou Freedom Party (MFP) | 6 890 | 1.2 | - | 1 | 1 | 0.8 |
| Popular Front for Democracy (PFD) | 6 330 | 1.1 | - | 1 | 1 | 0.8 |
| National Progressive Party (NPP) | 3 985 | 0.7 | - | 1 | 1 | 0.8 |
| Others | 7 772 | 1.4 | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 554 386 | 99.9 | 80 | 40 | 120 | 99.9 |
Sources
INDEPENDENT ELECTORAL COMMISSION 2002, 2002 Election Report.
KABEMBA, C (ed) 2004 From Military Rule to Multiparty Democracy: Political Reforms and Challenges in Lesotho [PDF document], EISA No 2, 21.
LETUKA, P, MAPETLA, M & MATASHANE-MARITE, K 2004 "Gender and Elections in Lesotho: Perspectives on the 2002 elections" [PDF document], EISA Research Report No 4, 61.
MATLOSA, K & SELLO, C 2005, Political Parties and Democratisation in Lesotho, EISA Research Report No 23, 15.