30 May 2017

Former Commonwealth Deputy Secretary General, Ms Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba has led the observer mission to Lesotho for the kingdom’s National Assembly elections scheduled for June 3.

A press release from the secretariat states that this follows a formal invitation from the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) of Lesotho and consultations between the Commonwealth Secretary General, Ms Patricia Scotland and a broad range of stakeholders during the former’s maiden visit to the country in April.

Lesotho’s Prime Minister, Mr Bethuel Mosisili announced the elections in March following a no-confidence vote in Parliament and the collapse of the coalition government.

During Ms Scotland’s visit to Lesotho, political parties agreed to sign a pre-election peace pledge.

The press release states that the Christian Council of Lesotho has since facilitated the signing of this pledge, which reaffirms commitment to conduct peaceful elections and to accept the results ‘when declared free and fair by duly authorised independent observers’.

“These elections are crucial for the people of Lesotho, and it’s our hope that they’ll help deepen democracy and consolidate political stability,” Ms Scotland is quoted in the release.

“When I visited Lesotho last month, my aim was to encourage political parties, the media and all relevant stakeholders to support peaceful and credible elections.”

The Commonwealth Observer Group will consider the pre-electoral environment and election preparations.

On election day, the group will observe the voting process, vote-counting procedures and the announcement of results, according to international standards for democratic elections, to which Lesotho has committed.

The groups will function with impartiality and independence, and will conduct itself according to the standards set out in the International Declaration of Principles for Election Observation, to which the Commonwealth is a signatory.

The group will submit its final report to the Commonwealth Secretary General, who will in turn share it with the Government of Lesotho, IEC, political parties, relevant NGOs and eventually all Commonwealth governments.

The report will then be made public.

The group has been in Lesotho since May 27 and will leave the country on June 8. ENDS