Lesotho: Electoral Code of Conduct (continued)

Undertakings and duties

To quell violence, intimidation, defamation and vote-buying candidates and registered parties must undertake to (section 5):

  • Repeatedly condemn violence in public.
  • Refrain from language that incites violence or intimidation.
  • Refrain from carrying weapons at public political events.
  • Abstain from plagiarising the insignia of other parties and discourage the removal, disfigurement or destruction of other parties' material.
  • Abstain from offering material inducements to influence party membership, event attendance, voting decisions or candidacy nominations.
  • Refrain from using social or institutional power for political purposes.
  • Abstain from discrimination on grounds of race, sex, ethnicity, class, gender or religion.

Parties and candidates have a duty to ensure that they do not arrange public events to conflict with those of other parties, that they attend meetings to discuss enforcement and infringements of the Code and to abide by the decisions made iro the Code by the competent authorities (section 6).

Women, the media and the IEC

Parties and candidates are enjoined to promote the rights of women by facilitating women's equal political participation, ensuring their access to public meetings, respecting their rights to communicate with parties and respecting their rights to freedom of political action and conscience without being subject to coercion (section 7).

Parties and candidates are expected to respect the media, to permit free access by the media to public political events and to ensure that journalists are not harassed, intimidated or subjected to hazard, threats or assault (section 8).

Parties and candidates are expected to cooperate with the IEC by:

  • Acknowledging the authority of the IEC and collectively owning the electoral process.
  • Attending meetings and participate in them through representatives.
  • Implementing its decisions.
  • Facilitating IEC access to campaign events.
  • Cooperating with IEC investigations.
  • Ensuring the safety of its officials.
  • Reassuring voters of its impartiality, of the integrity of the ballot and the secrecy of the vote.
  • Disciplining and restraining members from infringing the Code or the electoral law.
  • Maintaining contact with all other parties at every level, including the exchange of relevant contact details.

Election results

Parties and candidates must pledge to accept the final outcome of the elections as certified by the IEC and to ensure that others do so (section 10).

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References

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ELECTION ORDER 1992, Military Council and Council of Ministers of Lesotho.

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ELECTION (No 1) (AMENDMENT) ACT 2001, Lesotho Government Gazette Extraordinary, 46(105), 31 December.