Early general elections were held in Lesotho on 3 June 2017 to elect all 120 seats of the National Assembly, the lower house of the 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.[1]
After three years out of power, Pakalitha Mosisili returned to office as Prime Minister in the 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 between the deputy leader of the Democratic Congress, Monyane Moleleki, and Tom Thabane to remove Mosisili and install Moleleki as Prime Minister.[2] Moleleki was suspended from the Democratic Congress in December 2016 and launched a new party, the Alliance of Democrats, in January 2017.[3]
On 12 February 2017 Thabane returned to Lesotho from self-imposed exile, declaring that Prime Minister Mosisili no longer commanded a parliamentary majority and vowing to oust him in a vote of no confidence. He claimed that he was risking his life by returning.[4]
The new opposition alliance defeated Mosisili in a vote of no confidence on 1 March 2017 and proposed Moleleki as the new Prime Minister;[5] Mosisili, faced with the choice of stepping aside in favor of Moleleki or calling an early election, chose the latter. He advised King Letsie III to dissolve Parliament, and the King did so on 7 March, despite an opposition effort to obstruct the move.[6] It was announced on 13 March that an early election would be held on 3 June 2017.[1]
Electoral systemedit
The 120 members of the National Assembly are elected using the mixed-member proportional representation system, with voters casting a single vote. Eighty members are elected from single-member constituencies by first-past-the-post voting, with the remaining 40 elected from a single nationwide constituency in a closed list as leveling seats. The votes from every constituency are totalled (with votes cast for independent candidates ignored) to give a nationwide total for each party. A quota of the 120 total seats in the National Assembly is then calculated using each party's vote share and the number of seats won in constituencies is deducted in order to give the number of the 40 leveling -seats that a party is due. If the total number of seats due to be awarded is less than 120, the highest remainder method is used to distribute the remaining leveling seats.[7]
Resultsedit
Partial results available by 5 June, with counting for 57 constituencies completed, showed Thabane's opposition party, the ABC, winning 45 constituencies against only eight for Mosisili's party, the Democratic Congress.[8]
Full results were released on 6 June, confirming a victory for Thabane and the ABC, which won 48 seats against 30 for Mosisili's Democratic Congress.[9]
^ abAn additional three seats were won by ABC candidates, but the results in those constituencies was declared null, because candidates had died before the election.[10]
The ABC said on 6 June that it planned to form a government in coalition with the Alliance of Democrats, the Basotho National Party, and the Reformed Congress of Lesotho.[9] A government statement on 8 June said that Mosisili had submitted his resignation to King Letsie but would continue in a caretaker capacity.[11] However, on 9 June, Deputy Prime Minister Mothetjoa Metsing, leader of the Lesotho Congress for Democracy, said that "there is no need for the removal of the existing government in office" and argued for the formation of "a government of national unity" for the sake of national stability.[12]
Thabane's estranged wife Dipolelo was shot and killed on 14 June.[13] Thabane was sworn in as Prime Minister on 16 June,[14] and his cabinet was sworn in on 23 June, including Monyane Moleleki as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs.[15]
Referencesedit
^ ab"Lesotho to hold general election on June 3", Africanews, 13 March 2017.
^Nthakoana Ngatane, "Lesotho parties to form coalition govt" 2017-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, SABC News, 24 November 2016.
^Nthakoana Ngatane, "Thousands attend inaugural rally in Maseru" 2017-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, SABC News, 29 January 2017.
^"Ex-PM returns to restive Lesotho vowing to win power" 26 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Agence France-Presse, 12 February 2017.
^"Lesotho set for elections following no-confidence vote against PM Mosisili", Africanews, 2 March 2017.
^Nthakoana Ngatane, "Lesotho prepares for general elections" 2017-03-10 at the Wayback Machine, SABC News, 7 March 2017.
^"'Killing' of Lesotho PM Thabane's wife raises instability fears", News24, 15 June 2017.
^Ismail Akwei, "'Devastated' Lesotho PM inaugurated after fatal shooting of wife", Africanews, 16 June 2017.
^"New cabinet sworn in" 2017-06-30 at the Wayback Machine, LENA, 23 June 2017.
External linksedit
April 12, 2024
2017, lesotho, general, election, early, general, elections, were, held, lesotho, june, 2017, elect, seats, national, assembly, lower, house, parliament, elections, were, called, more, than, three, years, ahead, schedule, successful, vote, confidence, against,. Early general elections were held in Lesotho on 3 June 2017 to elect all 120 seats of the National Assembly the lower house of the 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 1 2017 Lesotho general election 2015 3 June 2017 2022 All 120 seats in the National Assembly61 seats needed for a majorityParty Leader Seats ABC Tom Thabane 40 52 48 2DC Pakalitha Mosisili 25 82 30 17LCD Mothetjoa Metsing 8 95 11 1AD Monyane Moleleki 7 34 9 NewMEC Selibe Mochoboroane 5 06 6 NewBNP Thesele Maseribane 4 05 5 2PFD Lekhetho Rakuoane 2 27 3 1NIP 1 10 1 0RCL 0 69 1 1BCP 0 59 1 0DPL 0 48 1 NewMFP 0 47 1 0This lists parties that won seats See the complete results below Constituency winners and regional winnersPrime Minister before Prime Minister after electionPakalitha MosisiliDC Tom ThabaneABC Contents 1 Background 2 Electoral system 3 Results 3 1 By district 4 Government formation 5 References 6 External linksBackground editAfter three years out of power Pakalitha Mosisili returned to office as Prime Minister in the 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 between the deputy leader of the Democratic Congress Monyane Moleleki and Tom Thabane to remove Mosisili and install Moleleki as Prime Minister 2 Moleleki was suspended from the Democratic Congress in December 2016 and launched a new party the Alliance of Democrats in January 2017 3 On 12 February 2017 Thabane returned to Lesotho from self imposed exile declaring that Prime Minister Mosisili no longer commanded a parliamentary majority and vowing to oust him in a vote of no confidence He claimed that he was risking his life by returning 4 The new opposition alliance defeated Mosisili in a vote of no confidence on 1 March 2017 and proposed Moleleki as the new Prime Minister 5 Mosisili faced with the choice of stepping aside in favor of Moleleki or calling an early election chose the latter He advised King Letsie III to dissolve Parliament and the King did so on 7 March despite an opposition effort to obstruct the move 6 It was announced on 13 March that an early election would be held on 3 June 2017 1 Electoral system editThe 120 members of the National Assembly are elected using the mixed member proportional representation system with voters casting a single vote Eighty members are elected from single member constituencies by first past the post voting with the remaining 40 elected from a single nationwide constituency in a closed list as leveling seats The votes from every constituency are totalled with votes cast for independent candidates ignored to give a nationwide total for each party A quota of the 120 total seats in the National Assembly is then calculated using each party s vote share and the number of seats won in constituencies is deducted in order to give the number of the 40 leveling seats that a party is due If the total number of seats due to be awarded is less than 120 the highest remainder method is used to distribute the remaining leveling seats 7 Results editPartial results available by 5 June with counting for 57 constituencies completed showed Thabane s opposition party the ABC winning 45 constituencies against only eight for Mosisili s party the Democratic Congress 8 Full results were released on 6 June confirming a victory for Thabane and the ABC which won 48 seats against 30 for Mosisili s Democratic Congress 9 nbsp PartyVotes SeatsConstituencyPRTotal All Basotho Convention a 235 72940 5247148 2Democratic Congress150 17225 8226430 17Lesotho Congress for Democracy52 0528 9511011 1Alliance of Democrats42 6867 34189NewMovement for Economic Change29 4205 06156NewBasotho National Party23 5414 05055 2Popular Front for Democracy13 2002 27123 1National Independent Party6 3751 100110Reformed Congress of Lesotho4 0370 69011 1Basutoland Congress Party3 4580 590110Democratic Party of Lesotho2 8010 48011NewMarematlou Freedom Party2 7610 470110Lesotho People s Congress2 3640 41000 1Basotho Democratic National Party1 8180 310000Lesotho Workers Party1 7110 290000Baena1 3930 240000Hamore Democratic Party1 3110 230000Lekhotla la Mekhoa le Meetlo1 0240 180000Majalefa Development Movement1 0240 18000NewTrue Reconciliation Unity8170 14000NewBasutoland African National Congress6840 120000Tsebe Social Democrats4020 070000Community Freedom Movement3220 060000Basotho Thabeng ea Sinai2790 05000NewSankatana Social Democracy2460 04000NewAll Democratic Cooperation1700 030000White Horse Party1390 020000African Unity Movement780 010000IND PR370 01000 Independent1 6410 280000Vacant a 303 Total581 692100 0080401200Valid votes581 69299 04Invalid blank votes5 6170 96Total votes587 309100 00Registered voters turnout1 253 54046 85Source IEC a b An additional three seats were won by ABC candidates but the results in those constituencies was declared null because candidates had died before the election 10 By district edit District ABC DC LCD AD MEC BNP PFD NIP OthersButha Buthe District 43 38 14 74 10 91 7 97 3 79 1 71 9 46 1 64 6 40Leribe District 43 30 8 75 22 38 2 25 2 57 3 72 10 23 1 68 5 12Berea District 50 90 10 63 17 05 6 34 3 29 3 62 1 50 1 19 5 48Maseru District 51 23 19 96 7 32 9 80 2 45 3 62 0 77 0 53 4 32Mafeteng District 33 01 35 11 1 83 2 56 18 27 1 45 1 29 0 74 5 74Mohale s Hoek District 30 11 48 82 5 13 7 53 2 29 1 27 0 85 4 00Quthing District 14 39 52 33 7 22 3 26 19 27 1 33 1 19 1 01Qacha s Nek District 6 64 76 25 3 67 4 53 5 66 0 59 0 33 2 33Thaba Tseka District 29 59 39 01 5 95 5 25 4 34 8 30 1 62 5 94Mokhotlong District 37 59 39 55 3 96 6 14 3 28 1 84 1 87 5 67Government formation editThe ABC said on 6 June that it planned to form a government in coalition with the Alliance of Democrats the Basotho National Party and the Reformed Congress of Lesotho 9 A government statement on 8 June said that Mosisili had submitted his resignation to King Letsie but would continue in a caretaker capacity 11 However on 9 June Deputy Prime Minister Mothetjoa Metsing leader of the Lesotho Congress for Democracy said that there is no need for the removal of the existing government in office and argued for the formation of a government of national unity for the sake of national stability 12 Thabane s estranged wife Dipolelo was shot and killed on 14 June 13 Thabane was sworn in as Prime Minister on 16 June 14 and his cabinet was sworn in on 23 June including Monyane Moleleki as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs 15 References edit a b Lesotho to hold general election on June 3 Africanews 13 March 2017 Nthakoana Ngatane Lesotho parties to form coalition govt Archived 2017 03 03 at the Wayback Machine SABC News 24 November 2016 Nthakoana Ngatane Thousands attend inaugural rally in Maseru Archived 2017 03 03 at the Wayback Machine SABC News 29 January 2017 Ex PM returns to restive Lesotho vowing to win power Archived 26 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine Agence France Presse 12 February 2017 Lesotho set for elections following no confidence vote against PM Mosisili Africanews 2 March 2017 Nthakoana Ngatane Lesotho prepares for general elections Archived 2017 03 10 at the Wayback Machine SABC News 7 March 2017 National Assembly Elections 2015 Fact Sheets permanent dead link IEC Mathabiso Ralengau Lesotho opposition leads as vote count passes two thirds mark Bloomberg 5 June 2017 a b Lesotho Incumbent Mosisili loses election to former Prime Minister Thabane Africanews 6 June 2017 Final elections tally announced Lesotho Times 6 June 2017 Easing fears Lesotho s PM Mosisili resigns after election loss Archived 2017 10 21 at the Wayback Machine Associated Press 9 June 2017 Former Lesotho deputy PM calls for government of national unity Reuters 10 June 2017 Killing of Lesotho PM Thabane s wife raises instability fears News24 15 June 2017 Ismail Akwei Devastated Lesotho PM inaugurated after fatal shooting of wife Africanews 16 June 2017 New cabinet sworn in Archived 2017 06 30 at the Wayback Machine LENA 23 June 2017 External links editIEC Lesotho Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 2017 Lesotho general election amp oldid 1164037588, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
