Lesotho: Independent Electoral Commission

Updated January 2007

Note: See also: MOTTIAR, S 2002, Lesotho Elections 2002: The Independent Electoral Commission.

The IEC was instituted by the Second Amendment to the Constitution, which abolished the Constituency Delimitation Commission and the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (Constitution of Lesotho 1993, Articles 66-66D). The IEC is independent from the control or direction of any person or authority (Constitution of Lesotho 1993, Articles 66C, 66D).

Composition

The IEC is comprised of a Chairperson who has held, currently holds or is qualified to hold, high judicial office and two other members who either possess the same qualifications as the Chairperson, or who have considerable experience or competence in administration or in the conduct of public affairs (Constitution of Lesotho 1993, Article 66(1)-(6)).

Appointment is made by the King on the advice of the Council of State. The Council of State solicits candidates from the all registered political parties. Members are not allowed to be an office-bearer of a political party, a member of a local authority nor in public office, other than a Judge of the High Court or the Court of Appeal (Constitution of Lesotho 1993, Article 66(1)-(6)).

Members may be only removed for incompetence or misconduct by a tribunal selected by the Chief Justice (Constitution of Lesotho 1993, Article 66(10)-(13)).

Term of Office

Office shall not exceed 6 years with a renewal for only one further term, not exceeding 6 years (Constitution of Lesotho 1993, Article 66(7)).

Functions

The Constitution lays down the following responsibilities (Constitution of Lesotho 1993, Article 66A(1)):

To conduct and supervise National Assembly and local government elections and referenda and ensure that they are free and fair.
To delimit constituencies.
To register voters and to create and maintain a voters roll.
To promote knowledge of electoral processes.
To register political parties.
To adjudicate disputes.

Electoral law adds to this list the following duties (National Assembly Election Order 1992, 4):

To establish and maintain relations with civil society actors and political parties.
To undertake and promote electoral research.
To review legislation and make recommendations for improvement.
To promote civic education.
To facilitate the development and transfer of electoral technology.
To develop and maintain a register of candidate and party political symbols.

Director of Elections

The Director of Elections is the executive arm of the IEC and is appointed by it in consultation with the Public Service Commission. The Director is directly answerable to the IEC (National Assembly Election Order 1992, 9D).

Commissioners

The following are commissioners of the IEC (Shale 2007):

Mr Abel Leshele Thoahlane - Chairperson
Mr Malefetsane Nkhahle - Commissioner
Ms Limakatso Mokhothu - Commissioner

Funding

The IEC receives funding from Parliamentary appropriations (Constitution of Lesotho 1993, Article 66D).

References

CONSTITUTION OF LESOTHO 1993, does not contain any amendments, [www] http://aceproject.org/regions-en/eisa/LS/Constitution%20of%20Lesotho%201993.pdf [PDF document, opens new window] (accessed 2 Jun 2008).

SECOND AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION ACT 1997, [www] http://aceproject.org/ regions-en/eisa/LS/Second%20Amendment%20to%20the%20Constitution%20Act%201997.pdf [PDF document, opens new window] (accessed 2 Jun 2008).

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ELECTION ORDER 1992, 9D.

SHALE, V 2007, EISA Political Parties Unit, by e-mail.

Official web site

Independent Electoral Commission: [www] http://www.iec.org.ls/ [opens new window].