National Assembly (Lesotho)

National Assembly
9th Parliament
Type
Type	Lower House of the Parliament of Lesotho
History
Founded	April 1965
New session started	10 March 2015[1]
Leadership
Speaker	Ntlhoi Motsamai
Structure
Seats	120
Political groups	ABC: 46 seats   Others: 8 seats   BNP: 7 seats   LCD: 12 seats   DC: 47 seats
Length of term	5 years
Elections
Voting system	Mixed-member proportional representation
Last election	28 February 2015
Meeting place
Maseru, Lesotho
Website
www.parliament.ls

The National Assembly is the lower chamber of Lesotho's bicameral Parliament.^[2]

Composition

The current National Assembly, formed following elections held on 26 May 2012, has a total of 120 members. 80 members are elected in single member constituencies using the simple majority (or First-past-the-post) system. The remaining 40 members are elected through proportional representation and national party-lists. Members serve five-year terms.

Ntlhoi Motsamai is the current Speaker of the National Assembly.

Previous National Assembly election results

Political Party	Election Year
1965 (1)	1970 (2)	1993	1998	2002
Basotho Congress Party (BCP)	25	36	65	-	03
Basotho National Party (BNP)	31	23	-	01	21
Basutoland African Congress (BAC)	-	-	-	-	03
Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD)	-	-	-	79	77
Lesotho Peoples' Congress (LPC)	-	-	-	-	05
Lesotho Workers' Party (LWP)	-	-	-	-	01
Marematlou Freedom Party (MFP)	04	01	-	-	01
National Independent Party (NIP)	-	-	-	-	05
National Progressive Party (NPP)	-	-	-	-	01
Popular Front for Democracy (PFD)	-	-	-	-	01
Vacant	-	-	-	-	02
Total	60	60	65	80	120

 Results of the 26 May 2012 National Assembly of Lesotho elections

Party	Votes	%	Seats			+/–
			Constituency	PR	Total
Democratic Congress (DC)	218,366	39.58	41	7	48	New
All Basotho Convention (ABC)	138,917	25.18	26	4	30	13
Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD)	121,076	21.94	12	14	26	36
Basotho National Party (BNP)	23,788	4.31	0	5	5	2
Popular Front for Democracy (PFD)	11,166	2.02	1	2	3	2
National Independent Party (NIP)	6,880	1.25	0	2	2	19
Lesotho Peoples' Congress (LPC)	5,021	0.91	0	1	1
Basotho Democratic National Party (BDNP)	3,433	0.62	0	1	1
Marematlou Freedom Party (MFP)	3,300	0.60	0	1	1
Basotho Congress Party (BCP)	2,531	0.46	0	1	1
Basotho Batho Democratic Party (BBDP)	2,440	0.44	0	1	1
Lesotho Workers' Party (LWP)	2,408	0.44	0	1	1	9
All Democratic Corporation (ADC)	1,933	0.35	0	0	0
Lekhotla La Mekhoa le Moetlo (LMM)	1,691	0.31	0	0	0
Areka Covenant Front for Development (ACFD)	1,227	0.22	0	0	0
Sankatana Social Democratic Party (SSDP)	1,081	0.20	0	0	0
African Unity Movement (AUM)	714	0.13	0	0	0
White Horse Party (WHP)	252	0.05	0	0	0
Independents	5,502	1.00	0	0	0
Invalid/blank votes	12,725	–	–	–	–	–
Total	564,451	100.00	80	40	120
Registered voters/turnout	1,127,980	50.04	–	–	–	–
Source: Independent Electoral Commission, Independent Electoral Commission, African Elections Database

Notes

1. In the pre-independence 1965 election, the Basotho National Party was known as the Basutoland National Party and the Basotho Congress Party was known as the Basutoland Congress Party.
2. The results of the 1970 election were annulled soon after they were announced.

See also

• Senate of Lesotho - the upper chamber of Parliament
• History of Lesotho
• List of Speakers of the National Assembly of Lesotho

References

1. "HIS MAJESTY SUMMONS NINTH PARLIAMENT". Lesotho News Agency. 6 March 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
2. "National Assembly". Government of Lesotho. Retrieved 5 March 2015.

External links

• Official website