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Misanet.com / SARDC - by Shumbana Karume Lesotho's pre-election environment may be deceptively similar to that of other regional countries. There is one slight difference in Lesotho however, the shockingly large number of Basotho political parties contesting for these paramount elections, 19 in total, far exceeding the regional benchmark. An environment blunted by the precariousness of a new electoral model with no sure signs if it will work or not, voter apathy, and brimming with fear of a possible repetition of the 1998 political upheaval, is not exactly a stable political milieu. Nonetheless the country is faced with a large consortium of political parties all vying for the political throne. So why is this so? During a recent pre-election workshop organised by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Lesotho a member from one of the contesting political parties eagerly and rather perceptively pointed out "how many Basothos see politics as a main source of income". With the continuing decline in living standards, the state has become the most reliable source of economic power in Lesotho. The real effect Lesotho's deteriorating economy has had on the political landscape, is anybody's guess. Most certainly Basotho political parties see a need to reverse the dilapidating state of the economy and a good number have prioritized this issue in their campaign platforms, amidst other belligerent issues of the day including good governance, protection of human rights and the issue of transparently managing public finance. Lesotho's economy is hardly in destitution, it isn't thriving either. Lesotho is nonetheless one of the world's least developed countries. Its meager resources have been listed as people, water and scenery. This has meant that a large number of male workers have crossed over to the mineral abundant South Africa as migrant workers. The continuing lack of opportunities in the domestic formal sector has increased Lesotho's subservient reliance on the remittances of these migrant workers. In 1996 alone these remittances constituted at least 45 percent of Lesotho's gross national Product (GNP). In an attempt to overturn this inimical trend, without much success the government scantily developed its manufacturing and services industries. The agricultural sector was for a short while also used as a saving grace. With only 11 percent of the land arable, and a combination of soil erosion, poor agricultural practices and recurrent bouts of drought, falling productivity is a phenomenon only too well known in Lesotho's agricultural sector. Just recently the Prime Minister declared a state of emergency due to food shortages. Lesotho's economic troubles are further intensified by the constrained co-dependence on the South African economy. The country has no financial institutions of its own, the central bank being one. The volatile Rand and its dramatic depreciation as of late, which is at par with the Lesotho currency unit hasn't helped matters much. It is not all gloomy however; this country's major success story has been the Highland Water Project, originally estimated at $3,770 million US dollars. The idea behind the project is basically to divert water from Lesotho's rivers for export to South Africa with self-sufficiency in hydro-generated electricity as the major by-product. Clearly the political environment has in some way or another suffered from the country's flagging economic track record. Restless individuals all rushing to grab a share of the government under the guise of public representation and differing political ideologies speaks for itself. The political canvass may not necessarily be marred by voter apathy but the Basothos are clearly despondent. Out of the one million eligible voters approximately 800,000 of them registered to vote. Faced with an overwhelming option of 19 political parties, it has now become a question of who they can trust more to run the country. Past experiences have shown that political parties have had no clear-cut attainable promises in their manifestos. Voter apathy, economic degradation and ambiguous campaign agendas of political parties are however, issues that have slowly faded into the background with the much talked about new mixed member parliamentary electoral model taking centre stage. This new electoral model was regarded necessary after the infamous 1998 electoral dispute.
Apparently the similarities in voting patterns in the constituencies of the ruling party was what instigated opposition parties' claims of election fraud, and this inevitably encouraged them to refuse the ruling party's massive win. The dissatisfaction of the opposition parties was further exacerbated by the refusal of the Chief Electoral Officer to allow a recount of the ballots. Surprisingly the disagreements and political clashes transformed into riots, which deteriorated to dangerous levels until South Africa and Botswana forces intervened to restore law and order. Lesotho's reaction to this damaging political upheaval has manifested in different ways. Some Basothos' and their political leaders' initial reaction was to brand SADC as traitors for sanctioning the Botswana/South Africa military intervention. Perhaps seen as only a brief political skirmish, Basothos saw no need for external intervention. Many believed that homegrown conflict resolution strategies could have done the trick. A change in the constitution proposed by some of the political parties and civil organizations, that would make it possible for the Head of State to intervene directly when faced with a political crisis, was therefore seen as the first step towards laying the groundwork for these homegrown policies. Other reforms, which hoped to provide a more conducive electoral environment after the 1998 electoral disagreements, included the establishment of the Interim Political Authority and the introduction of the mixed member parliamentary model. First-Past-the-Post system may be a simpler electoral model. Its outcome however is less clear and Lesotho's 1998 election experiences are an enlightening case in point. The ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) had won only 60 percent of the vote but received 79 seats in the 80-member National Assembly. The smaller parties on the other hand were left with the remaining seat and had to accept being represented by a single BNP (Basotho National Party) representative, although a group of them had won just under 40 percent of the vote. The new model is intended to avoid just this - it is a system that will ensure that even minority parties will have some representation in parliament. It is in fact a mixture of the FPTP and Proportional Representation systems where 80 seats of the constituencies are to be won on the FPTP and 40 complimentary seats will be available through the PR system. Whether or not this will work remains to be seen. As complicated as it seems there is one thing political parties can be sure of in these elections and that is their voices will be heard in parliament if the electorate wishes so. It's not quite clear who these parties will be or will take the leading role. From a long list of 19 political parties it could be the BNP who has more posters adorning the few light poles than any other political party or the MFP (Marematlou Freedom Party), LCD (Lesotho Congress for Democracy), NPP (National Progressive Party) or any one of the remaining 15 parties contesting. Lesotho's political squabbles may come to an end with the upcoming elections but there are other many enduring issues that still need to be resolved including the looming famine and the high rate of unemployment devastating this scenic country.
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