Election Seminar: Lesotho

A joint collaboration between EISA and the Africa Institute of South Africa (AISA).

1 March 2007, Burgers Park Hotel, Pretoria

The aftermath of the 2007 Lesotho Elections

Speaker: Ms Yaliwe Clarke (Senior Project Officer, Centre for Conflict Resolution)

The Lesotho General Elections took place on 17 February 2007. In preparation for the polls, 2 major events shaped the pre-election context:

• The recent exodus of eighteen ruling party MPs has largely paralysed the Lesotho Parliament, with the ruling party holding a slender 2 seat majority prior to the elections.
• This in turn led to the formation of a new political party, the All Basotho Congress (ABC).

The combination of the declining majority in the ruling party, and the emergence of the ABC prompted an early dissolution of the Lesotho Parliament, which according to the country's Constitution requires that new General elections be held within ninety days of parliament being dissolved. As a result, the 2007 elections were scheduled sooner than was expected, creating logistic and time constraints for election management and political parties.

Speakers shared views on the outcome of the Lesotho 2007 elections and how the results impact on the democratisation process in southern Africa.