Staff Reporter
ALL Basotho Convention (ABC) Chairperson, Motlohi Maliehe, is upbeat about his party’s prospects of victory in Saturday’s local government elections and parliamentary by-elections in three constituencies.
Basotho will go to the polls on Saturday to elect their local government representatives. The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) will also hold parliamentary by-elections in three constituencies on the same day after three candidates died ahead of the 3 June 2017 National Assembly polls.
The three constituencies are Thupa-Kubu, Hololo and Teya-teyaneng #24.
The IEC declared failed elections in the three constituencies after ABC candidate for Thupa-Kubu constituency, Afrika Makakane, Basotho National Party (BNP) candidate for Hololo constituency, Matela Leakae, and Popular Front for Democracy candidate for Teya-teyaneng #24 constituency, Makalo Jack Mohapi died ahead of the polls.
As a result of the deaths, the electorates in the constituencies did not vote for the constituency candidates but for the parties they supported for the purposes of proportional representation allocation. The ABC won the most votes in the three constituencies.
The party won 47 elected seats and one proportional representation seat and thereafter cobbled together a coalition government with the Alliance of Democrats, BNP and Reformed Congress of Lesotho.
In a recent interview with the Lesotho Times, Mr Maliehe expressed confidence that his party would fare well in the elections.
“We are ready for the coming elections and nominating candidates for the polls,” said the veteran legislator, who is also Forestry, Range and Soil Conservation minister.
“However, we improved from 40 constituencies to 50 seats within two years and it is a remarkable achievement especially considering that we were in the opposition ahead of the 3 June 2017 elections.”
Mr Maliehe explained that, like the other parties, the ABC had encountered challenges in the nominations of local government candidates.
“The problem facing every political party in Lesotho is that politics is regarded as a form of employment,” he said.
“So there is a lot of fighting in every party.”
The ABC chairperson conceded that the ABC was yet to make significant inroads in the southern part of the country.
“We are still in the minority in constituencies in the southern side of the country. But from the central to the northern regions, the ABC is unrivalled and we know that we will be victorious,” he added.
