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             Lesotho Opposition Forms Coalition After Snap Election

   by VOA News

   Lesotho's leading opposition party has formed a coalition government,
   after a snap election gave no group an outright majority.

   The Democratic Congress finished a close second in Saturday's election
   with 37 seats, three seats behind Prime Minister Thomas Thabane's All
   Basotho Convention.

   Democratic Congress leader Pakalitha Mosisili has been declared head of
   a coalition that also includes the Lesotho Congress for Democracy and
   five smaller parties.  Mothejoa Metsing, who served as deputy to the
   outgoing prime minister, has been named Mosisili's deputy.

   Friday, in an interview with VOA, Metsing had confirmed plans for a
   coalition government with Mosisili at the head.

   Voters in the tiny African enclave cast ballots for 80 parliamentary
   seats, while another 40 seats are distributed proportionally after the
   final tally.  A majority of 61 seats was needed for an outright win.

   Results were released Wednesday with 100 percent of the vote counted,
   although the electoral commission had not yet made an official
   announcement.

   Saturday's election, two years earlier than scheduled, followed an
   attempted coup in August that forced Prime Minister Thabane to
   temporarily flee the country.

   Thabane had presided over a tripartite coalition government - the first
   of its kind in the country's history.  Discord within the coalition
   built rapidly when Thabane declared a 10-month suspension of parliament
   last June.

   The Southern African Development Community (SADC) brokered an agreement
   with Lesotho's coalition parties to end the suspension of parliament in
   order to hold the snap election.

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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/lesotho-opposition-forms-coalition-af
   ter-snap-election/2667374.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/lesotho-opposition-forms-coalition-after-snap-election/2667374.html