General elections were held in

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...

on 17 February 2007. They had originally been scheduled to be held in April or May 2007. In October 2006, Tom Thabane left the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) and formed a new party, the All Basotho Convention (ABC), and 17 other members of parliament joined him. This left the LCD with a narrow majority of 61 out of 120 seats. On the advice of Prime Minister

Pakalitha Mosisili Bethuel Pakalitha Mosisili (born 14 March 1945) is a former Mosotho politician who was the fourth prime minister of Lesotho from May 1998 to June 2012 and again from March 2015 to June 2017.Letsie III Letsie III (born Seeiso Bereng; 17 July 1963) is King of Lesotho. He succeeded his father, Moshoeshoe II, who was forced into exile in 1990. His father was briefly restored in 1995 but died in a car crash in early 1996, and Letsie became king ag ...

dissolved parliament on November 24, 2006, and the election was scheduled for February 17, 2007. Bethuel Thai
"Lesotho will go to the polls in February 2007"
, Reuters (''IOL''), December 1, 2006. The bringing forward of the date caused dissatisfaction amongst the opposition, which expressed concern that it would not allow sufficient time for campaigning and electoral preparations. It was believed that the election was called early due to the possibility that there would be further defections from the LCD, depriving it of its majority. 80 constituency seats were up for election together with 40 seats allocated by proportional representation. The poll was monitored by the SADC and the American

National Democratic Institute The National Democratic Institute (NDI), or National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, is a non-profit American NGO that works with partners in developing countries to increase the effectiveness of democratic institutions. The NDI's ...

. The electoral commission announced late on 20 February that the LCD had won 61 out of the 80 constituency seats, while the ABC won 17."Lesotho's ruling party wins elections"
Xinhua (''People's Daily Online''), February 21, 2007. The

Alliance of Congress Parties The Alliance of Congress Parties is an electoral alliance in Lesotho, consisting of the Lesotho Peoples' Congress, the Basutoland African Congress Basutoland was a British Crown colony that existed from 1884 to 1966 in present-day Lesotho. ...

won one constituency seat, and the vote in Makhaleng was delayed because a candidate there had died. The National Independent Party, which is allied with the LCD, won 21 seats through proportional representation, and the Lesotho Workers' Party, which is allied with the ABC, won 10 seats through proportional representation. ABC leader Tom Thabane called the vote free, but not fair."Win was not fair - opposition"
, AFP (''IOL''), February 21, 2007. An extended dispute has followed the election regarding the allocation of the seats based on proportional representation. Despite acknowledging that the LCD won the election, the ABC has argued that the proportional seats were not allocated correctly. The LCD's reluctance to engage in talks prompted Thabane on October 18, 2007 to threaten street protests to pressure the government into holding a new election "if they continue to fail to co-operate".

Results

By-elections

A by-election was held in Makhaleng on 30 June 2007 to determine the MP of that constituency; it was won by the LCD.LCD wins Makhaleng constituency
Lesotho Government Portal, 2 July 2007 Full results for the by-election were:

References

{{Lesotho elections Elections in Lesotho

Parliamentary election Election and referendum articles with incomplete results