The EU observation mission will remain in Lesotho until the end of the electoral process

Oct. 11 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The European Union has stated this Tuesday that its electoral observation mission in Lesotho will remain in the country until the end of the process after the victory of the Revolution for Prosperity party (RFP), led by businessman and politician Sam Matekane.

“The EU electoral observation mission will observe post-election events and will remain in the country until the end of the electoral process,” EU Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Nabila Massrali said in a statement, adding that a report will be published later. with “all relevant findings”.

The European Union, deployed in the country to independently evaluate the electoral process in the country, has recalled that the elections were carried out in an “organized” manner and in a “peaceful environment”, although there were “financial deficiencies, legal insecurity and an uneven playing field for candidates.”

Finally, the EU has assured that “it is committed to supporting” Lesotho on its way to implement “long-awaited reforms” and “that are required” to “develop solid, democratic and inclusive institutions and guarantee a peaceful and prosperous future for all its population”.

The Revolution for Prosperity party (RFP), winner of the elections held last week in Lesotho, announced on Tuesday a coalition agreement with two other formations to form a government, once guaranteed that they have the majority of seats in the Parliament.

Thus, its leader, Matekane, has indicated that achieving “a stable government” is the main objective of the coalition, which thus obtains 65 of the 120 seats in Parliament – 56 from the RFP, five from the Alliance of Democrats and four of the Movement for Economic Change–.

The official results of the elections, published on Monday, also reflected that the All Basoto Convention (ABC) party, which won the 2017 elections, went from 48 to eight seats, weighed down by the scandal that led to its then leader, Thomas Thabane, to leave office in 2020.

Thabane was forced to resign in May 2020 after several months of political crisis in the African country due to his alleged involvement in the murder of his wife in 2017, two days before he was sworn in, a process in which he was accused his current wife, Maesaiah Thabane.

After Thabane’s resignation –forced by the withdrawal of support from his coalition partners–, the then Minister of Finance, Moeketsi Majoro, was appointed as Prime Minister, after which a new Government was formed headed by the ABC, although the deepening of the economic crisis has seriously damaged the image of the party.

Lesotho, a country totally surrounded by South Africa that has some 2.2 million inhabitants, has been marked by political instability in recent years that has caused the formation and fall of various political coalitions.