SINCE 2007 there has been a push by political parties to move towards the single ballot system.
The reason for this was the electoral crisis that came after the disputed parliamentary seats allocation done by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) after the 2007 elections.
In 2002, Lesotho dumped the First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) electoral model and adopted the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system.
The MMP is seen as a hybrid of the FPTP model and the Proportional Representation (PR) model.
It uses two ballots: one ballot is for the constituency and the other one for the political party.
The first ballot is for election constituency representative (Member of Parliament for a specific constituency) irrespective of whether the candidate belongs to a political party or is an independent.
The second ballot is used to elect one’s party of choice.
The arrangement of having two separate ballots means voters have more options to elect candidates of their choice.
Civil society groups in the past campaigned for the single ballot system.
But the proposal never received support from political parties then.
Recently, however, there have been moves by the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) party and the Popular Front for Democracy to push for the single ballot system — one ballot, one vote system — to be used during the next elections in 2012.
Other political parties appear opposed to this electoral model.
They have proposed a single ballot two votes system instead.
Under the single ballot one-man one-vote system the voter will elect a candidate and political party using one ballot.
That means a vote for a candidate will also be a vote for a political party.
But with the single ballot, two votes system, voters can elect a candidate of their choice while on the other side of the ballot paper they can elect a party of their choice.
I wish to analyse in this article the pros and cons of the single ballot system.
First, the system does not allow the proliferation of political pacts which undermined the electoral model of 2007.
The purpose behind the pacts was to improve political parties’ chances of maximising electoral returns and seize power.
The single ballot system will ensure that no politician stands for two political parties.
If we get rid of the two ballots system in my opinion it would be in our best interest as a country to adopt the single ballot two votes system.
The voter should still be allowed to separate the candidate from the party.
But the disadvantage with the single ballot system is that it can seriously undermine democracy in Lesotho.
For instance, the system does not accommodate independent candidates.
The ballot paper that is used to vote for an MP will also automatically be used to elect a party of one’s choice.
Therefore in the scenario where there is a failed election as in Makhaleng or a by-election as happened in Hololo, Mpharane and Sebapala constituencies earlier this year, it may be difficult to apply the formula of seats allocation as a matter of law.
Before seats allocation is done all valid votes are combined to get the national vote which will be divided by the 120 constituencies to find a quota.
The quota is a number or a scale used to measure the number of seats each political party deserves.
If the quota is 10 000, and the LCD for instance has 60 000 votes nationally, the IEC will divide the votes won by the LCD by the quota, which will be six.
This will be the provisional number of seats the LCD will take.
It is provisional because the final allocation is done after the IEC has subtracted the number of constituency seats the party would win in the constituency vote.
The rationale is to make sure that the LCD does not get more or less than six seats.
In the scenario where a single ballot system is adopted without independent candidates, the heart of the model which seeks to promote fairness and proportionality in representation will be seriously affected.
This is because independent candidates cannot stand under the second ballot of the PR system as it is for the political parties only.
Their votes may be used in the allocation of seats for parties although they will not get a seat.
For instance an independent candidate can have more votes than the party and get no seat.
But a party will be given a seat simply because it is eligible to stand under the PR system.
If independent candidates are barred from contesting elections we will run the risk of giving political parties monopoly over democracy.
Most of our political parties in Lesotho are highly irresponsible.
They all seem to have problems in adopting a democratic culture and upholding the rule of law within their political organisations.
We have seen national executive committees of these parties fielding candidates of their choice against the express wishes of the people.
This has given rise to independent candidates who are popular within the grassroots but with no support from political parties’ national executive committees.
It would be improper to close all space for independent candidates and give free rein to political parties.
It can be argued that independent candidates have not been a popular phenomenon on Lesotho’s political scene since the advent of democratic elections in 1993.
Basotho tend to identify their electoral choices with a particular political party.
It is therefore not common for a voter to elect a candidate who does not belong to a political party of their choice.
In the 2002 general election for instance, the Basotho National Party won some seats under the PR system but lost constituency elections.
In 2007, the All Basotho Convention won constituency elections in Hlotse constituency but lost the PR seat in the same constituency.
There are other examples which demonstrate this point.
What has been shown in all these examples is that voters do not always identify themselves with political parties.
Voters have the capacity to separate individual candidates from their political parties.
