New party set to make major gains in Lesotho poll By Clare Byrne

dpa German Press Agency Published: Thursday February 15, 2007

By Clare Byrne, Maseru- The mood in the tiny mountain kingdom of Lesotho was feverish in the run-up to general elections Saturday that could see the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) haemorrhage seats to a party founded by a defecting former minister and which will be closely watched for signs of the violence that marred past polls. The All Basotho Convention (ABC) was formed by former communications minister Thomas Thabane late last year after he dramatically crossed the floor with 16 fellow LCD deputies to the opposition benches, citing disaffection with the party he joined 53 years previously.

The move, which left the government with a majority of just two seats in the 120-member assembly, prompted Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili to call a snap election that looks set to be a two-horse LCD-ABC affair.

Since achieving independence from Britain in 1966 the southern African country has held four elections. The first in 1970 were annulled by then prime minister Leabua Jonathan and the years until 2002 were characterized by disputed elections followed by periods of military rule or direct rule by the king.

In the run-up to Saturday's poll, the Independent Electoral Commission has been under pressure to update the voter registration list on time and organize elections considered by all 15 parties fielding candidates to be fair, a task local and overseas election monitors consider to have been largely achieved.

Of the 120 seats up for grabs, 80 are filled on a "first past the post" system with the remaining 40 to be allocated using proportional representation.

Although few observers expect a repeat of the violence that followed a contested 1998 poll in which over 60 people were killed and several official buildings razed to the ground, a series of attacks by unknown gunmen targeting government members over the past year suggest political violence may not be at an end.

A Dutch aid worker was shot dead in November outside a guesthouse owned by the trade minister by a bullet apparently intended for the minister, an LCD deputy was shot dead at the entrance to his home and the foreign affairs escaped with his life in a commando-style attack after a party conference.

These killings have barely registered in the election campaign, in which a central theme has been the efficient use of resources as half of all citizens try to eke out an existence on two dollars a day or less.

The ABC's Thabane, a former LCD stalwart who had held several major portfolios before his defection last year, has portrayed himself as a man of the people at odds with a government grown complacent after the last elections in 2002.

"Instead of using security to deliver on policies - poverty, infrastructure, HIV/AIDS - the government went into a state of self- indulgence, for example, raising ministers salaries," Thabane said in an interview, lamenting the poor state of basic infrastructure, particularly in rural areas, quality issues in the education system and food insecurity.

Only about a quarter of land in Lesotho, which boasts several peaks over 3,000 metres, is arable. Despite being an exporter of water to South Africa, the country is periodically beset by drought.

HIV/AIDS is also a huge issue with 24 per cent of adults infected and anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment only beginning to reach out-of- the-way mountain clinics. Government statistics from 2006 showed only 8,000 people receiving ARVs out of a targeted 25,000 sufferers, although the Irish government, one of the biggest donors in Lesotho, estimates that number at currently closer to 14,000.

Over the past few years the government has made significant efforts towards reducing the stigma attached to HIV/AIDS and in encouraging people to get tested with its high-profile Know Your Status campaign.

Instead of taking issue with delivery on treatment, Thabane is campaigning for more food for patients on ARVs and for the government to provide small farmers with loans to grow crops.

The third major party, the Basotho National Party, previously the official opposition, has been relegated to possible coalition partner status with either the LCD or the ABC.

While the policies of the LCD and the ABC differ little in substance - both stress the need to fight poverty, improve services and encourage private sector investment- the BNP has sounded a more protectionist note, lambasting the privatization of state resources.

The government has only a 25-per-cent share for example in Letseng diamond mine, which started operations again in 2004 after a 20-year hiatus and is turning out small numbers of high-quality diamonds.

"We had to start from somewhere. We had to have investment in the mine," Deputy Prime Minister Archibald Lesao Lehohla told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, saying the government was aiming for a 50-per- cent stake in the mine which is majority-owned by Virgin-Islands registered Gem Diamonds.

On its record on poverty alleviation and improving basic services, the government is also defensive.

"Our premier priority was stability. This we have achieved," says Lehohla, pointing to a major achievement - the provision of free primary education to all children.

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency