At stake in this election:

• 120 seats in the Assembly

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: King LETSIE III *
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Pakalitha MOSISILI
• Assembly: Lesotho has a bicameral Parliament consisting of the Senate with 33 seats and the Assembly with 120 seats.

* The monarch is hereditary. Under traditional law, the college of chiefs has the power to depose and/or invest a monarch.

Description of electoral system:

• The King is hereditary N/A.
• In the Senate 33 members are appointed *. In the Assembly, 80 members are elected by simple majority vote in single-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms and 40 members are elected through a party-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms.**

* In the Senate, 22 members are hereditary principal chiefs and 11 members are appointed by the King.

** In the Assembly, 80 members are elected by simple majority vote in single-member constituencies and 40 are elected through a party-list proportional representation system. All members serve a maximum 5-year term. The number of seats in the Assembly rose from 80 to 120 in the May 2002 election.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD)
  • Leader: Pakalitha MOSISILI
  • Seats won in this Assembly election: 61
  • Seats won in last Assembly election: 77
• Party: All Basotho Convention (ABC)**
  • Leader: Tom THABANE
  • Seats won in this Assembly election: 17
  • Seats won in last Assembly election: N/A
• Alliance: Alliance of Congress Parties (ACP)***
  • Leader: Ntsukunyane MPHANYA (BCP)
  • Seats won in this Assembly election: 2
  • Seats won in last Assembly election: 11
• Party: Lesotho Workers Party (LWP)
  • Leader: Macaefa BILLY
  • Seats won in this Assembly election: 10
  • Seats won in last Assembly election: 0
• Party: National Independent Party (NIP)
  • Leader: Anthony MANYELI
  • Seats won in this Assembly election: 21
  • Seats won in last Assembly election: 5
• Party: Basotho National Party (BNP)
  • Leader: Maj. Gen. Justin Metsing LEKHANYA
  • Seats won in this Assembly election: 3
  • Seats won in last Assembly election: 21

** The All Basotho Convention (ABC) is a splinter party formed after a break from the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD). The party was created in October 2006 by former LCD member and Foreign Minister Tom THABANE. At least 17 other MPs joined THABANE in the new party
*** The Alliance of Congress Parties (ACP) is formed of the Lesotho People's Congress (LPC), the Basutoland African Congress (BAC), and the Basotho Congress Party (BCP). In the last election, LPC won 5 seats, while BAC and BCP obtained 3 each.

Last Parliamentary election:

• The last parliamentary election was held on May 25, 2002.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 1,955,656 (2007)
• Registered Voters: 916,230 (February 2007)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 999,069 (2007)

·         Is Lesotho a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has Lesotho ratified CEDAW: Yes (22 August 1995)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 29 (following the 2007 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 161 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Low (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Lesotho  a signatory to CRPD: No

·         Has Lesotho ratified CRPD: Yes, accession (2 December 2008)

·         Population with a disability: 293,348 (est.)