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2015 Lesotho General Election
General elections were held in Lesotho on 28 February 2015 for all 120 seats of the National Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of Lesotho, more than two years ahead of schedule due to the 2014 political crisis. Following mediation facilitated by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), King Letsie III on the advice of the incumbent Prime Minister Tom Thabane, dissolved the Eighth Parliament and called a snap election. Lesotho uses the mixed-member proportional representation voting system. More than 1.2 million voters had been registered by the Independent Electoral Commission. The army was confined to the barracks on the election day. The opposition Democratic Congress managed to form a coalition government as no party achieved an outright majority. Voter turnout was 48%. Background After the 2012 election, Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili's Democratic Congress failed to attain a majority; and thus a coalition government was formed among the three opposi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2012 Lesotho General Election
General elections were held in Lesotho on 26 May 2012. The incumbent Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili's newly formed Democratic Congress won a majority of single-member seats. He also won his seat by the second-largest margin of victory. However, they only had a plurality in the overall tally and coalition talks are taking place. Background As a result of the impact of the Arab Spring in 2011, protests occurred against the government in regard to unemployment, poverty and low salaries. The protests eventually had the support of taxi drivers, unions, students and opposition political parties. They also demanded to meet Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili, who had at times refused to do so. Following a dispute over the allocation of the proportional seats in the 2007 elections, the electoral system was amended, with the ''National Assembly Elections Order 1992'' repealed and replaced by the ''National Assembly Elections Act 2011''. The previous system of casting separate votes for a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coalition Government
A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in nations with majoritarian electoral systems, but common under proportional representation. A coalition government might also be created in a time of national difficulty or crisis (for example, during wartime or economic crisis) to give a government the high degree of perceived political legitimacy or collective identity, it can also play a role in diminishing internal political strife. In such times, parties have formed all-party coalitions (national unity governments, grand coalitions). If a coalition collapses, the Prime Minister and cabinet may be ousted by a vote of no confidence, call snap elections, form a new majority coalition, or continue as a minority government. Coalition agreement In multi-party states, a coalition agreeme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lesotho Mounted Police Service
The Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS) is the national police force of the Southern African Kingdom of Lesotho. History The police service was established in 1872, with an initial strength of 110 men. It adopted military discipline and, from 1878, military rank structure based on the British army. In the 1950s the force moved towards a civilian police operation, and in 1958 replaced its military rank structure with conventional civilian police ranks. Originally known as the Basutoland Mounted Police, the force later changed its name to Lesotho Police, then Lesotho Mounted Police (1966), and Royal Lesotho Mounted Force (1986). Today, in common with many police forces, it has adopted the style "police service" in its current formal name of Lesotho Mounted Police Service. Ranks Training The national Police Training College (P.T.C) opened in 1946. All recruits are enrolled as Cadets and complete a thirteen-month training course. Recruits must be aged between 18 and 30, and pass ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mail & Guardian
The ''Mail & Guardian'' is a South African weekly newspaper and website, published by M&G Media in Johannesburg, South Africa. It focuses on political analysis, investigative reporting, Southern African news, local arts, music and popular culture. It is considered a newspaper of record for South Africa. History The publication began as the ''Weekly Mail'', an alternative newspaper by a group of journalists in 1985 after the closure of two leading liberal newspapers, ''The Rand Daily Mail'' and ''Sunday Express''. ''Weekly Mail'' was one of the first newspapers to use Apple Mac desktop publishing. The ''Weekly Mail'' criticised the government and its apartheid policies, which led to the banning of the paper in 1988 by then State President P. W. Botha. The paper was renamed the ''Weekly Mail & Guardian'' from 30 July 1993. The London-based Guardian Media Group (GMG), the publisher of ''The Guardian'', became the majority shareholder of the print edition in 1995, and the name was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cyril Ramaphosa
Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician who is currently serving as the fifth democratically elected president of South Africa. Formerly an anti-apartheid activist, trade union leader, and businessman, Ramaphosa is also the president of the African National Congress (ANC). Ramaphosa rose to national prominence as secretary general of South Africa's biggest and most powerful trade union, the National Union of Mineworkers. In 1991, he was elected ANC secretary general under ANC president Nelson Mandela and became the ANC's chief negotiator during the negotiations that ended apartheid. He was elected chairperson of the Constitutional Assembly after the country's first fully democratic elections in 1994 and some observers believed that he was Mandela's preferred successor. However, Ramaphosa resigned from politics in 1996 and became well known as a businessman, including as an owner of McDonald's South Africa, chair of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South African Police Service
The South African Police Service (SAPS) is the national police force of the Republic of South Africa. Its 1,154 police stations in South Africa are divided according to the provincial borders, and a Provincial Commissioner is appointed in each province. The nine Provincial Commissioners report directly to the National Commissioner. The head office is in the Wachthuis Building in Pretoria. The Constitution of South Africa lays down that the South African Police Service has a responsibility to prevent, combat and investigate crime, maintain public order, protect and secure the inhabitants of the Republic and their property, uphold and enforce the law, create a safe and secure environment for all people in South Africa, prevent anything that may threaten the safety or security of any community, investigate any crimes that threaten the safety or security of any community, ensure criminals are brought to justice and participate in efforts to address the causes of crime. Amnesty In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coup D'état
A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, military, or a dictator. Many scholars consider a coup successful when the usurpers seize and hold power for at least seven days. Etymology The term comes from French ''coup d'État'', literally meaning a 'stroke of state' or 'blow of state'. In French, the word ''État'' () is capitalized when it denotes a sovereign political entity. Although the concept of a coup d'état has featured in politics since antiquity, the phrase is of relatively recent coinage.Julius Caesar's civil war, 5 January 49 BC. It did not appear within an English text before the 19th century except when used in the translation of a French source, there being no simple phrase in English to convey the contextualized idea of a 'knockout blow to the existing administratio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maaparankoe Mahao
Maaparankoe Mahao (27 January 1968 in Thaba-Tseka – 25 June 2015 near Mokema, Maseru District) was a Mosotho lieutenant general. His appointment as commander of the Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) in 2014 and the resultant refusal of his predecessor, Kennedy Tlali Kamoli to evacuate the post, ignited a season of political instability in Lesotho. After Kamoli's return to the post, Mahao was murdered by soldiers under suspicious circumstances. Life Mahao was born the sixth of seven children. His father was a public servant and a socialist. Maaparankoe Mahao attended ''Mokema Primary School'' from 1976 and ''St. Joseph's High School'' in Maseru from 1982. He joined the ''Lesotho Patriotic Youth Organisation'' (LPYO), which opposed the ruling military government under General Justin Metsing Lekhanya. At the National University of Lesotho he earned a Bachelor of Law in 1992 and an LL.B. in 1994. He was President of the ''Committee for Action and Solidarity for South African Students'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kennedy Tlali Kamoli
Kennedy may refer to: People * John F. Kennedy (1917–1963), 35th president of the United States * John Kennedy (Louisiana politician), (born 1951), US Senator from Louisiana * Kennedy (surname), a family name (including a list of persons with the surname) * Kennedy (given name), a given name (including a list of person with the first name) * Kennedy (commentator) (born 1972), former MTV VJ Lisa Kennedy Montgomery, who uses "Kennedy" as a stage name * Ken Anderson (wrestler) (born 1976), American professional wrestler and actor formerly known as Mr. Kennedy Families * Kennedy family, members of which have held high political US office * Kennedy (Ireland), or O'Kennedy, a royal dynasty * Clan Kennedy, of Scotland Fictional characters * Leon S. Kennedy, a fictional character in ''Resident Evil'' * Kennedy (''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''), a fictional character in ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' Places Australia *Kennedy, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region, Queen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Basotho National Party
The Basotho National Party is a political party in Lesotho, founded in 1959 in colonial Basutoland as the Basutoland National Party by Leabua Jonathan. He was Prime Minister from the 1965 general election until the 1986 coup d'état. In the 1993 general election, the BNP received almost 23% of the vote but did not win any seats in the National Assembly, with all 65 seats going to the party's rival, the Basutoland Congress Party (BCP). It suffered a similar defeat in the 1998 general election, in which it won 24.5% of the vote but only one seat in the National Assembly. Due to its lack of success in winning constituencies, the party sought the introduction of proportional representation in deciding the allocation of seats; as a compromise, a mixed system providing for 40 compensatory seats that would be decided through proportional representation (in addition to the 80 constituency seats) was introduced.''Political Parties of the World'' (6th edition, 2005), ed. Bogdan Szajkows ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lesotho Congress For Democracy
The Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) is a political party in Lesotho. In 1997, Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle left the Basutoland Congress Party to form with his faction the new Lesotho Congress for Democracy. The new party won the 1998 elections with 60.7% of the popular vote and 79 out of 80 seats. Pakalitha Mosisili became the new party leader and prime minister. At the elections for the National Assembly, 25 May 2002, the party won 54.9% of popular votes and 77 out of 120 seats. In the 17 February 2007 parliamentary election, the party won 62 out of 120 seats. Major splits from the party occurred in October 2001, when leading LCD members Kelebone Maope and Shakhane Mokhehle left the party to form the Lesotho People's Congress and in October 2006, when Tom Thabane left the party to form the All Basotho Convention. Prior to the Lesotho general election, 2012 the party split again with incumbent Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili forming the Democratic Congress and General ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
