Lesotho general election, 1993

The parliamentary elections in Lesotho in 1993 took place in the Kingdom of Lesotho on 27 March 1993. Was elected the National Assembly, which chooses the Prime Minister and for the government. The distribution of the 65 mandates were determined by majority vote.

Starting position

Lesotho was after seven years returned only in 1993 military dictatorship to democracy. In 1991, the ban on political activity was lifted. The last election had been scheduled by the then ruling Basotho National Party ( BNP) in 1985. However, after had refused to participate all the opposition parties, the BNP MPs were declared without choice elected. The last election was conducted in 1970. At that time, the Basotho Congress Party ( BCP) had won Ntsu Mokhehle the most votes, the losing BNP had let the elections but negate the power not to have to leave.

Until the election of 1993, Major General Elias Phisoana Ramaema the government; he retired after the election provisionally from politics. The BCP occurred as recently 1970 with Ntsu Mokhehle. The BNP under its chairman Evaristus Retšelisitsoe Sekhonyana also took part in the election.

Expiration

The choice was between twelve candidates of parties and independents. The election took place on March 27, 1993, one Saturday, held in 65 constituencies.

Result

532 678 people ( 72.3 % of eligible voters ) participated in the election. The BCP won all 65 seats, thanks to the electoral system. The BCP was doing 74.5 % of the vote, the BNP 22.6%, the monarchist Marematlou Freedom Party ( MFP) 1.4% and other parties and Independents 1.3%.

The elections were recognized by independent observers as free and fair. The high percentage of votes BCP was seen by many observers as a reaction to the aborted election of 1970. Mokhehle already been elected on 2 April 1993 as the new prime minister by Parliament.

Follow

The BNP and other losing parties refused to accept the election results. In particular, the BNP complained that she could make no deputies. Party chief Sekhonyana claiming that the results had been falsified, which could be seen " automatic stick " to the regularity of the voting results. An action of BNP against the election results was rejected by the High Court. In January 1994 there were mutinies in the Lesotho Defence Force, whereupon on behalf of the Southern African Development Community (SADC ) and the Organisation of African Unity (OAU ), the statesmen Frederik Willem de Klerk, Nelson Mandela - shortly before his election as president of South Africa - Ketumile Masire and Robert Mugabe tried to arbitration. In July 1994, the Deputy Prime Minister Selometsi Baholo was murdered by soldiers. The following month, the Mokhehle government was overthrown by rebels, the BNP, the Lesotho Defence Force and King Letsie III. were close. It was only after four weeks it was used to pressure from Mandela, Masire and Mugabe again. 1997 Mokhehle left with about two-thirds of the deputies, the BCP and founded the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD).