Lesotho Congress for Democracy

The Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD, Sesotho: Lekhotla la puso ea Sechaba ka Sechaba ) is a party in Lesotho. It was founded in 1997 and reigned from 1998 to 2012 by an absolute majority of seats.

History

In 1997, the LCD broke away with the then Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle of the ruling Basotho Congress Party. On 29 May 1998 regular parliamentary elections were held, at which the LCD received 60.7 % of the vote and 79 out of 80 seats. Mokhehle resigned in 1998 and expired in January 1999. His successor as party leader and Prime Minister was Bethuel Pakalitha Mosisili. Since the opposition parties, the election result is not recognized, there was unrest, which could be completed only after the intervention of South African and botswanischer troops and the partial introduction of proportional representation. In October 2001, several leading members split off and formed the Lesotho People's Congress. In the parliamentary elections on 25 May 2002, the LCD received 54.8 % of votes and 79 of 120 seats now. In October 2006, Secretary Tom Thabane left with 17 other MPs the party to found the All Basotho Convention (ABC). In the elections on 17 February 2007, the LCD won 62 of 120 seats and continued to provide the government.

As of 2010, there were power struggles within the LCD. Opponent of Mosisili was the Secretary-General and former Minister of Communications Mothetjoa Metsing. After a lost internal coordination Mosisili took place ahead of the upcoming elections in 2012 the spin-off from the LCD and the founding of a new party named Democratic Congress (DC), also Ntsu Democratic Congress (NDC ), named after Ntsu Mokhehle. In the 2012 elections, the LCD won 26 seats under Metsing and nurmehr was the third strongest party. Their stronghold was the Leribe district, where she won most constituencies. On June 8, 2012, the NBC chairman Tom Thabane was sworn in as Prime Minister of a coalition government formed by ABC, LCD and Basotho National Party ( BNP).

Program and structure

The motto of the LCD reads ` Nete, Toka, Khotso ( truth, justice, peace ). The party is led by a board ( National Executive Committee or komiti e Kholo, literally " Great Committee "). The LCD is the weekly newspaper Mololi ( German: " The whistle " ) out.