Lesotho dissolves parliament

2006-11-24 19:08

Maseru - Lesotho's King Letsie III dissolved parliament on Friday to pave the way for early elections, with the vote expected before the end of February.

A statement released by Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili said a date for the poll in the mountain kingdom would be set next week after a meeting of the council of state.

The council consists of the prime minister, speaker of the national assembly, two High Court judges, commanders of the Lesotho Defence Force and Lesotho mounted police services, one principal chief and two opposition party members of the national assembly.

A member of the three-man Lesotho Independent Electoral Commission, Limakatso Mokhothu, said preparations were advanced.

"We are ready. In any case we knew all the time that elections will be held next year around April or May.

New political party

The dissolution of parliament today (Friday) by the king means that elections will be held within 90 days from the date of the dissolution of parliament," she said.

Out of a population of roughly 1.8 million about 900 000 voters have already registered.

The word that elections will be early follows the recent formation of a new political party, All Basotho Convention, by former minister of communications, science and technology Tom Thabane after he resigned in October.

Eighteen members of the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy in the 120-member national assembly joined Thabane, reducing the majority of the ruling party to just two seats.

The new party has picked up huge support in recent weeks and is expected to be a strong challenger to the Lesotho Congress for Democracy, which won a landslide victory in 2002.

Lesotho is one of the world's poorest countries, wracked by high unemployment, illiteracy and one of the world's worst rates of HIV/Aids.

- SAPA