Basotho National Party
The Basotho National Party ( BNP, formerly Basutoland National Party ) is a party in Lesotho. It was founded in April 1959 and introduced from 1965 to 1986 the government.
History
The Basotho National Party was founded in April 1959 under the name of Basutoland National Party as the third party in the then Basutoland. The first chairman was the future Prime Minister Leabua Jonathan. The BNP was different from the dominant Basutoland Congress Party ( BCP) initially anti-Communist and was the barena, the Roman Catholic Church and the British colonial authorities in the then Basutoland close. Thus financed foreign Catholic priests a newspaper that attacked the BCP. The BNP was the apartheid regime in neighboring South Africa against the BCP as less critical.
At the first general election in 1960, the Basutoland BNP won despite the support of the South African government only a few seats, the BCP received the most votes. The BNP won only important again, as the future King Bereng Seeiso Jonathan gave a seat in the National Council. The BNP successfully advocated for women's suffrage and was supported by conservative circles in South Africa and the Federal Republic of Germany. In the elections of 1965, the BNP with 31 of 60 seats strongest party in front of the BCP. First Prime Minister was Sekhonyana ' Maseribane because Jonathan had not won his constituency. Only through a by-election, with the help of a donation of 100,000 sack of grain from South Africa, Jonathan came into the parliament and became Prime Minister. After Basutoland became independent in 1966 under the name of Lesotho, the BNP changed its name to Basotho National Party. The flag of Lesotho was held in the colors of the BNP. In the management of numerous South African officials have been used.
The elections won the 1970 BCP Ntsu Mokhehle. However Leabua Jonathan made the election to cancel. He called a state of emergency, had several BCP leader arrested and ruled the country from now on autocratic. King Moshoeshoe II refused to accept this and had to stay in the Netherlands for several months in exile. In the 1970s, the BNP turned increasingly dependent on South Africa, especially South Africa apparently the former terrorist organization Lesotho Liberation Army of BCP supported and carried out several attacks on refugees of the African National Congress in Lesotho. Jonathan and the newly formed BNP Youth League ( " BNP Youth League " ) have increasingly turned towards communist states like North Korea. To continue to receive development aid, took place in 1985 parliamentary elections in April. However, they were boycotted by all opposition parties so that the BNP won all 65 seats. On January 20, 1986, a US-backed military coup in South Africa under Justin Metsing Lekhanya took place against the BNP government. As a result, all political parties were banned. The flag was changed so that they no longer recalled the BNP. Jonathan died in 1987.
Only towards the end of military rule and before the upcoming parliamentary election in 1993 parties were permitted again. Chairman of the BNP was Evaristus Retšelisitsoe Sekhonyana, Deputy Justin Metsing Lekhanya who had 1986 BNP government overthrown. The BNP received in the 1993 elections, although 23 percent of the vote, because of the electoral system but no seats in the National Assembly. Sekhonyana was in 1994 after a coup by King Letsie III. few weeks, Foreign Minister. 1998 succeeded the BNP with 24 percent of the votes of winning a mandate. In the same year Sekhonyana was blamed for unrest in Maseru, which could be terminated only by the invasion of forces from South Africa and Botswana. Lekhanya was elected party chairman in 1999 and moved to the next elections in 2002 with a further 20 deputies in the National Assembly. The share of the vote was 22 percent; the higher number of seats resulted from a changed electoral law. At the 2007 elections, the BNP won three of the 120 seats in the 2012 elections five seats. Since then she has participated in a coalition government led by Tom Thabane.
Program and structure
The BNP is led by a Board of Directors ( National Executive Committee ).