DATE=11/12/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=LESOTHO / AGREEMENT (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-256093
BYLINE=ALEX BELIDA
DATELINE=JOHANNESBURG
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: An agreement paving the way for new elections
under a new electoral system is expected to be signed
in the Southern African country of Lesotho this coming
week (Tuesday 11/16). V-O-A Southern Africa
Correspondent Alex Belida reports the accord is
designed to end a political crisis that led last year
to civil unrest and eventual military intervention by
neighboring countries.
TEXT: Trouble broke out in Lesotho last year after
elections in which the ruling Lesotho Congress for
Democracy party took all but one of the 80 seats in
Parliament.
Opposition parties rejected the results, claiming the
voting was rigged. Civil disturbances coupled with a
mutiny in Lesotho's military eventually led the
country's government to appeal for outside help.
Troops from South Africa and Botswana intervened to
restore order, triggering bloodshed and widespread
property destruction.
International observers said the 1998 election was
generally free and fair. They said the lopsided
outcome was the result of Lesotho's use of a
constituency-based, "first-past-the-post" (winner take
all) system.
Now a political agreement has been worked out for
fresh elections under a new electoral system -- one
intended to give smaller parties a greater chance of
winning a place in Lesotho's Parliament.
Under the accord, the mountain kingdom, surrounded
entirely by South Africa, will have a mixed electoral
model. There will be 130 seats in the new Parliament:
80 allocated on the old "first-past-the-post" system
and 50 chosen on the basis of proportional
representation (parties represented on the basis of
percentage of popular vote won).
Outgoing Commonwealth Secretary-General Emeka Anyaouko
told reporters at the Commonwealth summit meeting in
Durban about the agreement between the parties
represented on Lesotho's Interim Political Authority
or I-P-A.
/// ANYAOUKO ACTUALITY ONE ///
In Lesotho, my special envoy has been there and
has succeeded in negotiating an agreement
between the government and the I-P-A which
involves all the opposition parties and that
agreement is intended to resolve the political
impasse which has existed in Lesotho since the
last elections.
/// END ACTUALITY ///
Mr. Anyaouko says there were plans to sign the
agreement earlier this month. But he says regional
leaders could not attend. He says the signing
ceremony has been rescheduled for Tuesday -- the day
after the Commonwealth summit ends.
/// OPT // ANYAOUKO ACTUALITY TWO ///
Yes, that agreement was due to be signed this
last Friday, but unfortunately the other heads
of government who need to be present at the
signing of the agreement could not be there. We
are now seeking for the agreement to be signed
this coming Tuesday. That is the day
immediately after CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of
Government Meeting). I hope to be there in
Lesotho for the signing of the agreement and I
hope at least two other heads of government from
this region, from the SADC (Southern Africa
Development Community) region, will be there and
three or four of us will be the moral guarantors
of that agreement.
/// END OPT ACTUALITY ///
It is not clear which regional leaders will attend.
But South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe
have all been involved in the effort to restore
political stability in Lesotho. (Signed)
NEB/BEL/JWH/JBM
12-Nov-1999 11:57 AM EDT (12-Nov-1999 1657 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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