Politics of Lesotho

Politics of Lesotho takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic constitutional monarchy, whereby the Prime Minister of Lesotho is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of Parliament, the Senate and the National Assembly. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

Executive branch

Main office holders

Office	Name	Party	Since
King	Letsie III		7 February 1996
Prime Minister	Moeketsi Majoro	All Basotho Convention	20 May 2020

The Lesotho Government is a constitutional monarchy. The Prime Minister, Moeketsi Majoro, is head of government and has executive authority. The King serves a largely ceremonial function; he no longer possesses any executive authority and is proscribed from actively participating in political initiatives. According to the constitution, the leader of the majority party in the assembly automatically becomes prime minister; the monarch is hereditary, but, under the terms of the constitution which came into effect after the March 1993 election, the monarch is a "living symbol of national unity" with no executive or legislative powers; under traditional law the college of chiefs has the power to determine who is next in the line of succession, who shall serve as regent in the event that the successor is not of mature age, and may even depose the monarch.

Legislative branch

Parliament has two chambers. The National Assembly has 120 members, elected for a five-year term, 80 in single-seat constituencies and 40 by proportional representation. The Senate has 33 nominated members.

Political parties and elections

For other political parties, see List of political parties in Lesotho. An overview on elections and election results is included in Elections in Lesotho.

General elections

Main article: 2017 Lesotho general election

Party		Votes	%	Seats			+/–
				FPTP	PR	Total
	All Basotho Convention[lower-alpha 1]	235,729	40.52	47	1	48	+2
	Democratic Congress	150,172	25.82	26	4	30	–17
	Lesotho Congress for Democracy	52,052	8.95	1	10	11	–1
	Alliance of Democrats	42,686	7.34	1	8	9	New
	Movement for Economic Change	29,420	5.06	1	5	6	New
	Basotho National Party	23,541	4.05	0	5	5	–2
	Popular Front for Democracy	13,200	2.27	1	2	3	+1
	National Independent Party	6,375	1.10	0	1	1	0
	Reformed Congress of Lesotho	4,037	0.69	0	1	1	–1
	Basutoland Congress Party	3,458	0.59	0	1	1	0
	Democratic Party of Lesotho	2,801	0.48	0	1	1	New
	Marematlou Freedom Party	2,761	0.47	0	1	1	0
	Lesotho People's Congress	2,364	0.41	0	0	0	–1
	Basotho Democratic National Party	1,818	0.31	0	0	0	0
	Lesotho Workers' Party	1,711	0.29	0	0	0	0
	Baena	1,393	0.24	0	0	0	0
	Hamore Democratic Party	1,311	0.23	0	0	0	0
	Lekhotla la Mekhoa le Meetlo	1,024	0.18	0	0	0	0
	Majalefa Development Movement	1,024	0.18	0	0	0	New
	True Reconciliation Unity	817	0.14	0	0	0	New
	Basutoland African National Congress	684	0.12	0	0	0	0
	Tsebe Social Democrats	402	0.07	0	0	0	0
	Community Freedom Movement	322	0.06	0	0	0	0
	Basotho Thabeng ea Sinai	279	0.05	0	0	0	New
	Sankatana Social Democracy	246	0.04	0	0	0	New
	All Democratic Cooperation	170	0.03	0	0	0	0
	White Horse Party	139	0.02	0	0	0	0
	African Unity Movement	78	0.01	0	0	0	0
	IND PR	37	0.01	0	0	0	–
	Independent	1,641	0.28	0	0	0	0
Vacant[lower-alpha 1]		–	–	3	0	3	–
Invalid/blank votes		5,617	–	–	–	–	–
Total		587,309	100	80	40	120	0
Registered voters/turnout		1,253,540	46.85	–	–	–	–
Source: IEC

1. 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.[1]

Judicial branch

The constitution provides for an independent hierarchical judicial system. The judiciary is made up of the High Court of Lesotho, the Court of Appeal, magistrate's courts, and traditional (customary) courts which exist predominantly in rural areas. There is no trial by jury; rather, judges make rulings alone, or, in the case of criminal trials, with two other judges as observers. The constitution also protects basic civil liberties, including freedom of speech, association, and the press; freedom of peaceful assembly; and freedom of religion. [2]

The Court of Appeal is located in Maseru and consists of a President and 6 justices of Appeal.

The High Court has unlimited original jurisdiction over civil and criminal matters, as well as appellate jurisdiction from the lower courts and comprises a Chief Justice and other puisne judges. Parallel to the High Court is the Labour Court, which is a specialist court dealing exclusively with industrial and labour matters.

Magistrates Courts are presided over by judicial officers (magistrates) employed as civil servants. They are not courts of record and as such their decisions are not binding on future cases.

The Chief Justice and Justices of the Court of Appeal are appointed by the King on the advice of the Prime Minister. Puisne judges of the High Court are appointed by the King on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission. High Court judges may retire any time after attaining the age of 75 but may be removed from office by the King for malfeasance or infirmity.

Chief Justices

• c. 1968–>1970 Hendrik Rudolf Jacobs (South African)
• 1974–1975 Joas Tseliso Mapetla
• 1976–?1986 Taufik Suliman Cotran (afterwards Chief Justice of Belize, 1986)
• 1987–1991 Brendan Peter Cullinan
• <1994–2002 Joseph Lebona Kheola
• 2002–2004 Mahapela Lelohla
  • 2004 Baptista Molai (acting)
  • 2013 Tseliso Monaphathi (acting)
• 2014-date Nthomeng Majara

Administrative divisions

For administrative purposes, Lesotho is divided into 10 districts, each headed by a district secretary and a district military officer appointed by the central government and the RLDF, respectively. The districts are: Berea, Butha-Buthe, Leribe, Mafeteng, Maseru, Mohales Hoek, Mokhotlong, Qacha's Nek, Quthing, Thaba-Tseka

International organization participation

Lesotho is member of ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, SACU, SADC, United Nations, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

Notes and references

1. Final elections tally announced Lesotho Times, 6 June 2017
2. "The Law and Legal Research in Lesotho". Hauser Global Law School Program. Retrieved 5 March 2016.

Literature

• K. Matlosa Electoral System Design and Conflict Mitigation: the Case of Lesotho // Democracy, Conflict and Human Security