REPORT ON THE LESOTHO 26 MAY 2012 NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2012 ii NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS REPORT 2012 Independent Electoral Commission Lesotho iii Published by the Independent Electoral Commission of Lesotho IEC Head Office 2nd and 3rd Floor MGC Park Corner Pope John Paul II & Mpilo Boulevard Maseru 100, Lesotho P. O. Box 12698 Maseru 100, Lesotho Tel: +266 2231 4991 Fax: +266 2231 0398 Website: www.iec.org.ls © IEC LESOTHO 2013 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. Design and Layout: IEC Lesotho 2012 NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS REPORT iv Table of Contents 1. Foreword ......................................................................................................................................... 2 2. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 3 Table 1: List of Political Parties which Participated on 2012 Elections ............................................. 3 Chart 1: Political Parties Representatives at the Constituencies ........................................................ 4 3. Legal Framework ............................................................................................................................ 6 4. Delimitation of Constituency Boundaries ....................................................................................... 8 5. Dissolution of Parliament................................................................................................................ 9 6. Election Timetable ........................................................................................................................ 10 7. Registration ................................................................................................................................... 12 8. Nomination of Candidates ............................................................................................................ 16 9. Civic and Voter Education ............................................................................................................ 17 10. Infrastructure and Logistics .......................................................................................................... 22 11. Voters Transfers and Demarcation Statistics ................................................................................ 23 12. Election Observation and Monitoring ........................................................................................... 26 13. Advance Voting and Voting Day .................................................................................................. 27 14. Constituency Results ..................................................................................................................... 29 14.1 Performance of All Parties in Regard to Number of Votes ................................................... 29 1 1. Foreword On 26th May 2012, the people of Lesotho were asked to vote for the establishment of the 8th Parliament of Lesotho. This report is an account of how the National Assembly Elections were run and challenges encountered. It also gives an outline of the electoral process from demarcation of electoral boundaries, registration of voters and political parties, nomination of candidates and voting. Elections provide a foundation for a stable democracy that Lesotho has started to experience. 2012 National Assembly Elections has been the fourth in a series of elections run by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC). Each election has its own challenges but the 2012 election more than any other elections run by IEC in the past was different in that it demonstrated a level of trust on the electoral administration process that resulted in the acceptance of the election results; which then has allowed an orderly transition of power. Observers both international and local have highlighted that the 26 May 2012 general election process was transparent, peaceful, free, fair and participatory. Furthermore the observer missions have acclaimed and congratulated the people of the Kingdom of Lesotho, political parties and candidates for their political maturity and for demonstrating faith in the principles of democracy. All this makes everyone involved in this election to take pride. There have been new amendments in the National Assembly Electoral Act, 2011 which were aimed to improve the administration of the election processes but it has been noted that more refinements still have to be done on the Act. The Commission look forward to working with all of those who have a responsibility for ensuring the successful delivery of these elections. _____________________________ _____________________ ___________ Dr. Fako Likoti Adv. ’Mamosebi Pholo Chairman Commissioner Independent Electoral Commission Independent Electoral Commission ________________________________ Mr. Mphasa Mokhochane Director of Elections Independent Electoral Commission 2 2. Introduction The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) is a constitutional Election Management Body (EMB) that is established by the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution of Lesotho. The powers and duties of the Commission are prescribed in Section 135 of the National Assembly Electoral Act. This is a body which is bestowed with, among others as stated in the Constitution, the holding of parliamentarian, local government elections and referenda. In accordance with its mandate, the Independent Electoral Commission held the 4th National Assembly Elections on 26th May 2012, which this report is all about. Preparations leading to the holding of these elections started well in advance, and followed the Local Government Elections that was held only in October 2011. As it is inevitable some activities which were geared towards the holding of the Local Government Elections had a direct bearing on the National Assembly Elections. These would include the registration of voters, their transfers, removal of the deceased and other activities that contributed to clean and reliable voters’ register. The purpose of this report is to present an account of how the general elections were run and challenges encountered. It also gives the legal outline within which the elections were held, a broad outline of the electoral process from demarcation of electoral boundaries, registration of voters and political parties, nomination of candidates and voting. Finally it gives an overview of the conduct of the 2012 National Assembly Elections as a learning curve for the future holding of elections. About 18 political parties registered for and contested the aforesaid elections and these were: Table 1: List of Political Parties which Participated on 2012 Elections PARTY ABBREVIATION FULL NAME ABC ALL BASOTHO CONVENTION ACFD AREKA COVANENT FRONT FOR DEVELOPMENT ADC ALL DEMOCRATIC CORPORATION AUM AFRICAN UNITY MOVEMENT BBDP BASOTHO BATHO DEMOCRATIC PARTY BCP BASOTHO CONGRESS PARTY BDNP BASOTHO DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL PARTY BNP BASOTHO NATIONAL PARTY DC DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS 3 LCD LESOTHO CONGRESS FOR DEMOCRACY LMM LEKHOTLA LA MEKHOA LE MEETLO LPC LESOTHO PEOPLES CONGRESS LWP LESOTHO WORKERS PARTY MFP MAREMATLOU FREEDOM PARTY NIP NATIONAL INDEPENDENT PARTY PFD POPULAR FRONT FOR DEMOCRACY SSD LEKHOTLA LA SENKATANA WHP WHITEHORSE PARTY On the other hand Chart 1 here below shows how the parties have posted their candidates/representatives throughout the country. Chart 1: Political Parties Representatives at the Constituencies The election s were run by the 4th Commission which was composed of Mrs Limakatso Mokhothu who was the chairperson of the commission, Commissioners Dr. Fako Likoti and Mr Malefetsane Nkhahle, who, regrettable passed away a few months before the elections. MAY HIS SOUL REST IN PEACE. The electoral process and supervision of electoral staff was garnered by the ably supervision of Acting Director of Elections, Mr Mphasa Mokhochane. 1.1 Gender Representation Even though Lesotho is said to be amongst the top 10 countries in the world that have made significance progress in gender equality and empowerment of women,1 this does not seen to be the case when it comes to politics. In 2012 national elections there were 1 http://www.undp.org.ls Millennium Development goals Report – Lesotho – 2011. 4 very few women candidates contesting constituency seats.2 Chart 2 here-below shows the number of women who won the 2012 national elections as compared to that of men. Chart 2 Gender Analysis On Winning Parties In Constituencies 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 Number of Candidates Number 5 0 ABC DC LCD PFD Male 23 34 9 1 Female 3 7 3 0 In order to address this worrying state of affairs, the Commission, in 2011 when reviewing the National Assembly Electoral Act 1992, came up with a provision that mandated political parties to prepare their proportional representation (PR) list in a manner that the list shall not only include equal number of women and men but shall also ensure that if the first candidate is a male he shall immediately be followed by a female candidate and vis-versa (Zebra model). This provisions made a significance difference in the 8th Parliament as the number of women has increased than ever before. 2 SADC Parliamentary Forum – Election Observation Mission report, for the 2012 Lesotho National assembly elections, August, 2012. 5 3. Legal Framework