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Basotho National Party
The Basotho National Party is a political party in Lesotho, founded in 1959 in colonial Basutoland as the Basutoland National Party by Leabua Jonathan. He was Prime Minister from the 1965 general election until the 1986 coup d'état. In the 1993 general election, the BNP received almost 23% of the vote but did not win any seats in the National Assembly, with all 65 seats going to the party's rival, the Basutoland Congress Party (BCP). It suffered a similar defeat in the 1998 general election, in which it won 24.5% of the vote but only one seat in the National Assembly. Due to its lack of success in winning constituencies, the party sought the introduction of proportional representation in deciding the allocation of seats; as a compromise, a mixed system providing for 40 compensatory seats that would be decided through proportional representation (in addition to the 80 constituency seats) was introduced.''Political Parties of the World'' (6th edition, 2005), ed. Bogdan Szajko ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leabua Jonathan
Joseph Leabua Jonathan (30 October 1914 – 5 April 1987) was the second prime minister of Lesotho. He succeeded Chief Sekhonyana Nehemia Maseribane following a by-election and held that post from 1965 to 1986. Early life and career Born in Leribe, Jonathan was a minor chief, like many others a great-grandson of the polygamous King Moshoeshoe I. Jonathan worked as a mine induna at Brakpan but because he was a chief he went back to Rakolo's and got involved in local government in Basutoland from 1937 and was a member of delegations to London that sought self-government in Basutoland. Politics and premiership Jonathan converted to Catholicism and in 1959 founded the Canadian Catholic missionary-backed Basutoland National Party (BNP), renamed Basotho National Party at independence. In the 1960 election, barely a year after its formation, Leabua's party came fourth but in the election where women were disfranchised. In the pre-independence elections of April 1965, the BNP won 31 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1993 Lesotho General Election
General elections were held in Lesotho between 27 and 29 March 1993, the first full elections since the ruling Basotho National Party annulled the results of the 1970 elections, which they had lost to the Basutoland Congress Party. Of the 736,930 registered voters, 532,678 cast valid votes. African Elections Database The BCP were victorious in the election, winning all 65 of the seats in the . Its leader, Ntsu Mokhehle, became |
2022 Lesotho General Election
General elections were held in Lesotho on 7 October 2022 to elect all 120 members of the National Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of Lesotho. Background The previous general elections in 2017 were called after prime minister Pakalitha Mosisili lost a vote of no confidence. In the election, the All Basotho Convention (ABC), led by Tom Thabane, won 48 seats. The Democratic Congress (DC) led by Mosisili won 30 seats, the Lesotho Congress for Democracy party (LCD) secured 11 seats whilst numerous minor parties won 27. The ABC won three additional seats; however, the results of those constituencies were declared null and void due to the deaths of some candidates contesting those seats. Following the election, the ABC announced its intention to form coalition government with the Reformed Congress of Lesotho, the Alliance of Democrats and the Basotho National Party. The new government was sworn in on 16 June and Thabane assumed office as prime minister. Thabane's e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2017 Lesotho General Election
Early general elections were held in Lesotho on 3 June 2017 to elect all 120 seats of the National Assembly (Lesotho), National Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of Lesotho, Parliament. The elections were called more than three years ahead of schedule due to a successful vote of no confidence against the incumbent Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili."Lesotho to hold general election on June 3" Africanews, 13 March 2017. Background After three years out of power, Pakalitha Mosisili returned to office as Prime Minister in the 2015 Lesotho general election, February 2015 general election as leader of the Democratic Congress, defeating Prime Minister Tom Thabane of the All Basotho Convention. However, in November 2016 an agreement was announced betw ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2015 Lesotho General Election
General elections were held in Lesotho on 28 February 2015 for all 120 seats of the National Assembly (Lesotho), National Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of Lesotho, Parliament of Lesotho, more than two years ahead of schedule due to the 2014 Lesotho political crisis, 2014 political crisis. Following mediation facilitated by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), King Letsie III of Lesotho, Letsie III on the advice of the incumbent Prime Minister Tom Thabane, dissolved the 2012 Lesotho general election, Eighth Parliament and called a snap election. Lesotho uses the mixed-member proportional representation voting system. More than 1.2 million voters had been registered by the Independent Electoral Commission. The Lesotho Defence Force, army was confined to the barracks on the election day. The opposition Democratic Congress managed to form a coalition government as no party achieved an outright Majority government, majority. Voter turnout was 48%. Background ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2012 Lesotho General Election
General elections were held in Lesotho on 26 May 2012. The incumbent Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili's newly formed Democratic Congress won a majority of single-member seats. He also won his seat by the second-largest margin of victory. However, they only had a plurality in the overall tally and coalition talks are taking place. Background As a result of the impact of the Arab Spring in 2011, protests occurred against the government in regard to unemployment, poverty and low salaries. The protests eventually had the support of taxi drivers, unions, students and opposition political parties. They also demanded to meet Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili, who had at times refused to do so. Following a dispute over the allocation of the proportional seats in the 2007 elections, the electoral system was amended, with the ''National Assembly Elections Order 1992'' repealed and replaced by the ''National Assembly Elections Act 2011''. The previous system of casting separate votes for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1985 Lesotho General Election
General elections were due to be held in Lesotho in September 1985, the first since 1970, when the ruling Basotholand National Party carried out a coup d'état by declaring a state of emergency after annulling the election, which they had lost to the Basutoland Congress Party. However, the election was boycotted by all parties except for the BNP, which duly won all 60 seats by default. African Elections Database References Elections in Lesotho[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1970 Lesotho General Election
General elections were held in Lesotho on 27 and 28 January 1970, the first since independence in 1966. They were won by the opposition Basutoland Congress Party, but without announcing the results, the ruling Basotho National Party carried out a coup d'état by declaring a state of emergency, annulling the election, dissolving parliament and suspending the constitution.Lesotho: Authoritarian rule, 1970-1991 EISA King was sent into exile after expressing disapproval of the actions. Leabua Jonathan then dictated the country until 1986 when a military ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1960 Basutoland General Election
General elections were held in Basutoland in 1960 after a new Constitution was approved by the British authorities in September 1959.Keesing's Contemporary Archives, p17318 The public elected nine District Councils with a total of 162 members on 20 January.Dolf Sternberger, Bernhard Vogel, Dieter Nohlen & Klaus Landfried (1978) ''Die Wahl der Parlamente: Band II: Afrika, Erster Halbband'', p1080 The District Councils subsequently elected 40 members of the National Council, with a further 14 members nominated by Moshoeshoe II Moshoeshoe II (2 May 1938 – 15 January 1996), previously known as Constantine Bereng Seeiso, was the Paramount Chief of Basutoland, succeeding paramount chief Seeiso from 1960 until the country gained full independence from Britain in 1966. ..., 22 members drawn from principal and ward chiefs and four members from among senior government officials. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2007 Lesotho General Election
General elections were held in Lesotho on 17 February 2007. They had originally been scheduled to be held in April or May 2007. In October 2006, Tom Thabane left the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) and formed a new party, the All Basotho Convention (ABC), and 17 other members of parliament joined him. This left the LCD with a narrow majority of 61 out of 120 seats. On the advice of Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili, King Letsie III dissolved parliament on November 24, 2006, and the election was scheduled for February 17, 2007. Bethuel Thai"Lesotho will go to the polls in February 2007", Reuters (''IOL''), December 1, 2006. The bringing forward of the date caused dissatisfaction amongst the opposition, which expressed concern that it would not allow sufficient time for campaigning and electoral preparations. It was believed that the election was called early due to the possibility that there would be further defections from the LCD, depriving it of its majority. 80 cons ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2002 Lesotho General Election
General elections were held in Lesotho on 25 May 2002. The result was a victory for the Lesotho Congress for Democracy, which took over 50% of the vote and 77 of the 120 seats in the National Assembly. It was the first election held in Lesotho under the mixed member proportional representation (MMP) system, with 80 seats elected in first-past-the-post constituencies, and 40 using a proportional representation-based compensatory system. 554,386 of the 831,515 registered voters cast valid votes. EISA Results References {{Lesotho elections Elections in Lesotho |
Justin Lekhanya
General Justin Metsing Lekhanya (7 April 1938 – 20 January 2021) was the Minister of Defence and Chairman of the Military Council of Lesotho from 24 January 1986 to 2 May 1991. Background Born in Thaba-Tseka in 1938, Lekhanya completed his primary and secondary education in Roman Catholic Schools. After working as a migrant mine worker in South Africa, he joined the Basutoland Mounted Police in 1960. He became the only Masotho officer heading a paramilitary Police Mobile Unit (PMU) platoon soon after its formation in 1965. During the early 1970s, he received trainings at police academies in South Africa and Rhodesia, and later assumed command of the PMU as a Major General in 1975. Lekhanya also oversaw its transformation into the Lesotho Paramilitary Force, later known as Lesotho Defence Force. In power Lekhanya was commander of the army when he overthrew Prime Minister Leabua Jonathan in a 1986 military coup following revelations that he had been the victim of a hoax by two ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |