again sworn in as Prime Minister. The Commonwealth observer group present for the elections said that the conditions existed for a free expression of the will of the voters. In October 2006 Tom Thabane resigned as a minister in the LCD government to form a new political party, the All Basotho Convention (ABC). Sixteen LCD members of parliament and one independent defected with him, making the ABC the third largest party in the National Assembly with 18 members. In the February 2007 general election, which was observed by a Commonwealth expert team, Mosisili and the ruling LCD were returned to power, winning 62 seats. The National Independent Party took 21 seats and the ABC 17, mainly in urban areas. After the 2007 elections a political impasse arose following a dispute on the allocation of seats in parliament. Subsequent mediation efforts at resolving the dispute were led by Southern African Development Community (SADC) Special Envoy Sir Ketumile Masire and the Christian Council of Lesotho. In February 2012 Mosisili and 44 other members left the ruling LCD to form a new party, the Democratic Congress (DC). A general election in May 2012, with Commonwealth observers present, resulted in a peaceful transfer of power when Pakalitha Mosisili was succeeded by ABC leader Tom Thabane, the first change of Prime Minister since 1998. Mosisili’s DC won 48 seats, the ABC 30, the LCD 26 and the BNP five. Though the DC had the most seats, it did not have a working majority. The three opposition parties agreed to form a coalition government and parliament elected Thabane Prime Minister; he was sworn in on 9 June 2012. In June 2014, after divisions appeared in the ruling coalition and a motion of no confidence had been called against the Prime Minister, Thabane prorogued parliament. On 30 August 2014 Thabane fled to South Africa, alleging that the army had attempted to take power and saying that he feared for his life. The South African government provided a security escort so that Thabane was able to return to Lesotho in early September 2014. The SADC initiated a process of mediation between the political stakeholders, which was facilitated by South African Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa. This resulted in the signing of the Maseru Facilitation Declaration on 2 October 2014, which committed all political parties to the reconvening of parliament on 17 October 2014; to limiting the business of the current parliament to discussion of the budget and all matters related to the holding of elections; and to the holding of elections in February 2015, on a date to be set by King Letsie III. In the general election held on 28 February 2015, which Commonwealth election observers described as peaceful and well conducted, Mosisili’s DC won 47 seats, Thabane’s ABC 46, the LCD 12 and the BNP seven. Neither DC nor ABC won a majority of the 120 seats in Parliament and, after a short period of negotiations with the smaller parties, on 4 March 2015 the DC announced it would form a coalition government with the LCD and five other parties. Local government Ministry: Local Government and Chieftainship Parliament is mandated by the constitution to provide for local government largely through the Local Government Act 1997 and L e s o t h o Local Government Elections Act 1998. The Minister of Local Government and Chieftainship is responsible for local government, which comprises the single-tier Maseru City Council and ten twotier district councils, the second tier of which is made up of 128 community councils. Lesotho’s first local elections were held in April 2005; elections are held every five years. The local authorities do have revenue-raising powers, but receive the bulk of their revenues from central government. Their many responsibilities include public health, environmental protection, water supply, education and agricultural support services. National development plan The National Vision 2020 was launched in 2003. The vision was that by 2020 Lesotho would be a stable democracy and a united, prosperous nation at peace with itself and its neighbours; that it should have healthy and well-developed human resources; and that its economy would be strong, its environment well-managed and its technology well-established. The strategy for implementation of this Vision was set out in a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper and the Interim National Development Framework 2009/10–2010/11, and then from March 2012 these documents were succeeded by the National Strategic Development Plan 2012/13–2016/17, which now serves to coordinate and guide policy decision-making and resource allocation towards realisation of the Vision. Policy The overarching objectives of the Plan are: • Promotion of peace, democracy and good governance • Pursuit of high, sustainable and equitable economic growth • Poverty reduction through employment generation and reduction of social vulnerability • Protection of the environment and promotion of climate-friendly technologies and practices • Promotion of HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment • Radical transformation of technical, vocational and higher education to produce world-class skills and expand access to ICT Governance institutions Commonwealth Governance Handbook 2014/15 187 Central Bank of Lesotho: www.centralbank.org.ls Communications Authority: www.lca.org.ls Letsema: www.letsema.org Ministry of Finance and Development Planning: www.finance.gov.ls Ministry of Justice, Human Rights and Correctional Service: www.justice.gov.ls Ministry of Local Government and Chieftainship: www.gov.ls/local Ministry of Trade, Industry, Co-operatives and Marketing: www.gov.ls/trade Ombudsman: www.ombudsman.org.ls
CEP template 2012
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