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Elections and Democracy in Lesotho

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Elections and Democracy in Lesotho JOURNAL OF AFRICAN ELECTIONS JOURNAL OF JOURNAL OF EISA gratefully acknowledges the generous financial support for this project from Sida AFRICAN ELECTIONS Special Issue: Elections and Democracy in Lesotho Vol 7 No 1 June 2008 7 No 1 June Vol Volume 7 Number 1 June 2008 VOLUME 6 NO 1 1 Journal of African Elections Special Issue: Elections and Democracy in Lesotho ARTICLES BY Khabele Matlosa Jørgen Elklit Francis K Makoa Sehoai Santho Fako Johnson Likoti Sofonea Shale Motlamelle A Kapa & Lira Theko Khabele Matlosa & Victor Shale Masilo Philemon Makhetha Nthakeng Pheello Selinyane Volume 7 Number 1 June 2008 1 2 JOURNAL OF AFRICAN ELECTIONS Published by EISA 14 Park Road, Richmond Johannesburg South Africa P O Box 740 Auckland Park 2006 South Africa Tel: +27 011 482 5495 Fax: +27 011 482 6163 e-mail: [email protected] ©EISA 2008 ISSN: 1609-4700 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher Copy editor: Pat Tucker Printed by: Global Print, Johannesburg Cover photograph: Reproduced with the permission of the HAMILL GALLERY OF AFRICAN ART, BOSTON, MA, USA www.eisa.org.za VOLUME 6 NO 1 3 EDITORS Denis Kadima, Electoral Institute of Southern Africa, Johannesburg Khabele Matlosa, Electoral Institute of Southern Africa, Johannesburg EDITORIAL BOARD Tessy Bakary, Office of the Prime Minister, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire David Caroll, Democracy Program, The Carter Center, Atlanta Jørgen Elklit, Department of Political Science, University of Aarhus, Denmark Amanda Gouws, Department of Political Science, University of Stellenbosch Abdalla Hamdok, International Institute for Democracy Assistance, Pretoria Sean Jacobs, New York University, Brooklyn, NY Claude Kabemba, Southern Africa Resource Watch, Johannesburg Peter Kagwanja, International Crisis Group, Southern Africa Project, Pretoria Peter Katjavivi, Ambassador of Namibia to Berlin Abdul Rahman Lamin, Department of International Relations, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg Tom Lodge, Department Politics and Public Administration, University of Limerick Robin Ludwig, UN Dialogue with the Global South, New York Robert Mattes, Department of Political Science, University of Cape Town Yvonne Muthien, Corporate Affairs, MTN South Africa Eghosa Osaghae, Igbinedion University, Okada, Nigeria David Pottie, The Carter Center, Atlanta Ben Reilly, Director, Centre for Democratic Institutions, The Australian National University, Canberra Lloyd Sachikonye, Institute of Development Studies, University of Zimbabwe, Harare Jeremy Seekings, Sociology Department, University of Cape Town Timothy Sisk, Graduate School of International Studies, University of Denver, Colorado Gloria Somolekae, Programme Director, W K Kellogg Foundation, Pretoria and EISA Board member Roger Southall, Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria The Journal of African Elections is an interdisciplinary biannual publication of research and writing in the human sciences, which seeks to promote a scholarly understanding of developments and change in Africa. Responsibility for opinions expressed and for the accuracy of facts published in papers, research notes, review articles and book reviews rests solely with the individual authors or reviewers. Contributions are referred to specialist readers for consideration, but the Editor is responsible for the final selection of the contents of the Journal. Editorial correspondence, including manuscripts for submission and books for review, should be sent to: The Editor, Journal of African Elections EISA: P O Box 740 Auckland Park 2006, South Africa Business correspondence, including orders and remittances, subscription queries, advertisements, back numbers and offprints, should be addressed to: The Publisher, Journal of African Elections EISA: P O Box 740 Auckland Park 2006 South Africa 4 JOURNAL OF AFRICAN ELECTIONS CONTENTS Editorial Khabele Matlosa ................................................................................................................................. 1 The 2007 General Election in Lesotho: Abuse of the MMP System? Jørgen Elklit ...................................................................................................................................... 10 The 2007 General Election in Lesotho: Managing the Post-Election Conflict Khabele Matlosa ............................................................................................................................... 20 Party Alliances and Political Coalitions During the 2007 General Election in Lesotho Francis K Makoa .............................................................................................................................. 50 Prospects for the Promotion of a Culture of Political Tolerance in Lesotho Sehoai Santho ................................................................................................................................... 66 How Parties Fared in the 2007 Election: A Theoretical Exploration of the Outcome Fako Johnson Likoti .......................................................................................................................... 75 Electoral System Reform and Implications for Gender Equality Khabele Matlosa ............................................................................................................................... 95 The Challenge of Political Legitimacy Posed by the 2007 General Election Sofonea Shale .................................................................................................................................. 109 The Role and Position of Civil Society Organisations in Lesotho’s Democratisation Process Motlamelle Anthony Kapa and Lira Theko .................................................................................... 124 The Impact of Floor Crossing on Electoral Politics and Representative Democracy in Lesotho Khabele Matlosa and Victor Shale .................................................................................................. 138 The Socio-Economic Cost of the Post-Election Conflict Masilo Philemon Makhetha ............................................................................................................ 153 The Media and Electoral Politics in Lesotho Between 1993 and 2007 Nthakeng Pheello Selinyane ........................................................................................................... 164 Review ........................................................................................................................................... 174 Contents of Previous Issues ....................................................................................................... 179 Notes for Contributors ................................................................................................................ 192 VOLUME 7 NO 1 1 EDITORIAL Khabele Matlosa Like many other states in Southern Africa Lesotho has undergone a political transition from authoritarian governance, both civilian (1970-1986) and military (1986-1993), to embracing multiparty democracy (1993 to date). There is no doubt that the transition from military dictatorship to multiparty democracy was epoch- making and set the stage for a new political era for the enclave mountain kingdom. While many keen observers of Lesotho’s political scene were fascinated, excited and enthused by the positive developments of the early 1990s we remained cognisant of the stark reality that undergoing a political transition is one thing, while building a firm foundation on which democratic governance can thrive and endure is quite another. Put somewhat differently, it is relatively easier to jettison an autocratic mode of governance and embrace multiparty democracy than it is to build, nurture, and consolidate democratic governance beyond mere procedural (elections) and legal (constitution and legislation) considerations. While it is incontrovertible that Lesotho underwent a successful transition in the early 1990s, what is arguable is whether or not the transition has led to the institutionalisation and consolidation of democracy. Is multiparty democracy advancing political rights and civil liberties? Is it advancing socio-economic rights and improving the daily lives of ordinary people? Is it ensuring peace, harmony, and political stability? Do elections bolster or hinder the building, nurturing, and consolidation of representative democratic governance? These are the key questions that prompted EISA to commission the papers that constitute this special issue of the Journal of African Elections. Many of these papers were presented at a regional dialogue forum organised by EISA and the Lesotho Council of Non-Governmental Organisations from 25-27 September 2007 under the title ‘Lesotho’s 2007 General Elections: Towards a Constructive Management of Post-Election Disputes’. While the principal preoccupation of the contributors to this issue is the 2007 general election, their larger and broader concern is to review critically Lesotho’s political transition since 1993 and explore the challenges of institutionalising a representative multiparty democracy that ensures the political and socio-economic rights and civil liberties of the Basotho people; a democracy that improves the daily lives of ordinary Basotho in the villages and not a democracy of urban-based elites; a democracy that ensures peace,
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