Zimpapers Logo

Tom Thabane

CAPE Town – The Southern African Development Community (Sadc) has declared Lesotho’s parliamentary elections held over the weekend as free, fair and credible.

Saturday’s polls, which were called two years ahead of schedule, passed without incident, according to observers.

SABC reported yesterday that the head of mission and South Africa’s international relations minister, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, urged all stakeholders to accept the outcome of the vote or challenge it within the provisions of the country’s laws.

Mashabane called for security to be monitored, saying police should maintain law and order without bias.

“The role of the police is to maintain law and order without bias and the Sadc confirm that Lesotho police complied and the army as well,” Mashabane was quoted as saying.

The small mountain kingdom has been in crisis since June 2014, when Thabane suspended parliament to avoid a motion that would have seen him ousted from power after his fragile coalition government fell apart.

Meanwhile, Lesotho’s prime minister Tom Thabane yesterday appeared to be heading for victory in parliamentary elections, winning 38 out of 60 constituencies where all the votes had been counted.

Saturday’s elections were staged two years ahead of schedule to restore order in the southern African mountain kingdom six months after the army was accused of attempting a coup.

The main opposition party Democratic Congress (DC), led by former prime minister Pakalitha Mosisili, was running second, winning 20 constituencies.

The Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD), led by Thabane’s deputy Mothetjoa Metsing, came third with two constituencies.

Votes still needed to be counted in 20 constituencies. It was expected that no party would get enough votes to govern alone and that Lesotho would get another coalition government.

Twenty-four parties vied for support among the 1,2 million registered voters in the country, which is landlocked by South Africa.

The elections were agreed with the mediation of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) after soldiers surrounded Thabane’s residence and police headquarters on August 30. One police officer was killed.

The army justified the move by saying it had intended to disarm rogue elements within the police force, but Sadc said the events resembled a coup.

Thabane fled to South Africa and returned to Lesotho under a South African police escort.

The premier’s three-party coalition government ran into trouble in June 2014, when Metsing announced a vote of no confidence against him, prompting him to dissolve parliament.

Analysts say the strife could be related to Thabane’s anti-corruption campaign, which threatened to implicate Metsing. The deputy premier has denied involvement in a coup attempt.

Critics say the government had focused on power struggles rather than on improving the lives of the people, nearly 60 percent of whom live below the poverty line, according to the World Bank. — News24-Sapa.