Lesotho’s PM concedes election defeat

Lesotho’s prime minister, Pakalitha Mosisili, has conceded defeat in a parliamentary election to his opponent Thomas Thabane, the government said, easing concerns of political instability in the mountain kingdom.

“His Majesty King Letsie III has accepted the resignation of The Right Honourable the Prime Minister, Dr. Pakalitha Mosisili,” a government statement received on Friday said.

Mr. Mosisili will remain in his position until Mr. Thabane is sworn in, the statement said.

Mr. Thabane’s All Basotho Convention (ABC) won 48 parliamentary seats, compared with 30 won by Mosisili’s Democratic Congress, results released on Tuesday showed.

Mr. Thabane won a national election at the weekend but failed to gain an outright majority in parliament and will now form a coalition government, the party said on Tuesday.

NAN reports that the election outcome reverses the result of an election two years ago, when Mosisili’s DC ousted Thabane and the ABC by uniting with smaller parties.

Mr. Mosisili lost a confidence vote in parliament in March after several defections by ruling coalition lawmakers to the opposition eroded his support.

Lesotho, a nation of 2 million people, has been hit by several coups since gaining independence from Britain in 1966 and its last two elections failed to produce a winner with a clear majority.

Mr. Thabane, who governed from 2012 until 2015, and other opposition leaders fled the country to South Africa in 2015 after an assassination attempt on his life.(Reuters/NAN)