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Lesotho election: Prime Minister Mosisili challenged by former allies
As it became clear he would never be allowed to take over, he quit the cabinet in 2006 to form the All Basotho Convention (ABC) with a populist pledge to fight hunger, poverty, disease, crime and corruption.
He has found support among urban voters, promising to review work conditions at textile factories and deals with foreign mining firms to exploit the nation’s diamonds.
His ABC has struggled to gain traction, holding just 14 seats in the last parliament.
In Lesotho’s parliament, 80 of the 120 lawmakers represent constituencies and the other 40 are allocated on a proportional system.
After the 2007 elections, Thabane’s dispute on the way the proportional seats were allocated drew in the regional Southern African Development Community (SADC) to mediate.
That resulted in changes to the electoral system that mostly satisfied the complaints. But with a tight race, Lesotho could get its first-ever coalition government, if none of the three main contenders manage to win a majority.
Copyright 2012 AFP.
