Lesotho will hold a parliamentary election on Friday, amid failures by its politicians to pass constitutional reforms meant to end years of political instability in the southern African mountain kingdom.
The All Basotho Convention (ABC) has run the country since 2017, but divisions within the party have led to two prime ministers over five years. One of them, Thomas Thabane, stepped down in 2020 after being charged with the murder of his ex-wife.
He denied any wrongdoing and the charges were later dropped.
His successor, Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro, declared a state of emergency in August after legislators failed to pass two bills meant to end political volatility in parliament.
Last month, Lesotho’s highest court ruled the declaration unconstitutional.
The ABC has selected another leader, former health minister Nkaku Kabi, to contest the ticket, after he defeated Majoro in a party vote in February.
The proposed constitutional reforms would have amended everything from the role of political parties, to rules over floor-crossing in parliament, the appointment of senior officials and the role of the prime minister.
The aim was to make Lesotho less prone to political logjams when disagreements occur. But lawmakers failed to agree on them in August.
Lesotho has seen four military coups since independence from Britain in 1966.
In 2014, gunshots were heard in Maseru and then-Prime Minister Thabane temporarily fled the country, accusing the military of overthrowing him, which forced South Africa to mediate to restore orderand allow his return.
Opposition riots in the capital Maseru in 1998 prompted South Africa to deploy troops to restore order.
Surrounded on all sides by a South African mountain range, Lesotho’s cool lakes and springs are a vital source of freshwater for its bigger neighbour, supplying the taps of its commercial capital, Johannesburg.
