Lesotho: Government#
| Country name | conventional long form: Kingdom of Lesotho conventional short form: Lesotho local long form: Kingdom of Lesotho local short form: Lesotho former: Basutoland etymology: the name translates as "Land of the Sesotho speakers" |
|---|---|
| Government type | parliamentary constitutional monarchy |
| Capital | Maseru
Maseru
geographic coordinates: 29 19 S, 27 29 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) |
| Administrative divisions | 10 districts; Berea, Butha-Buthe, Leribe, Mafeteng, Maseru, Mohale's Hoek, Mokhotlong, Qacha's Nek, Quthing, Thaba-Tseka |
| Independence | 4 October 1966 (from the UK) |
| National holiday | Independence Day, 4 October (1966) |
| Constitution | previous 1959, 1967; latest adopted 2 April 1993 (effectively restoring the 1967 version); amended several times, last in 2011 (2016) |
| Legal system | mixed legal system of English common law and Roman-Dutch law; judicial review of legislative acts in High Court and Court of Appeal |
| International law organization participation | accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction |
| Citizenship | citizenship by birth: yes citizenship by descent: yes dual citizenship recognized: no residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years |
| Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal |
| Executive branch | chief of state: King LETSIE III (since 7 February 1996); note - King LETSIE III formerly occupied the throne from November 1990 to February 1995 while his father was in exile head of government: Prime Minister Pakalitha MOSISILI (since 18 March 2015) cabinet: Cabinet elections/appointments: the monarchy is hereditary but under the terms of the constitution that came into effect after the March 1993 election, the monarch is a "living symbol of national unity" with no executive or legislative powers; under traditional law, the college of chiefs has the power to depose the monarch, to determine next in line of succession, or to serve as regent in the event that a successor is not of mature age; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition in the Assembly automatically becomes prime minister |
| Legislative branch | description: bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (33 seats; 22 principal chiefs and 11 other senators nominated by the king with the advice of the Council of State, a 13-member body of key government and non-government officials; members serve 5-year terms) and the National Assembly (120 seats; 80 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote and 40 directly elected in single-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote; members serve 5-year terms) elections: last held on 28 February 2015 (next to be held in 2020) election results: National Assembly - percent of vote by party - DC 38.4%, ABC 37.8%, LCD, 9.9%, BNP 5.5%, PFD 1.7%, RCL 1.2%, NIP 1.0%, MFP 0.6%, BCP 0.5%, LPC 0.3%, other 3.1%; seats by party - DC 47, ABC 46, LCD 12, BNP 7, PFD 2, RCL 2, NIP 1, MFP 1, BCP 1, LPC 1 |
| Judicial branch | highest court(s): Court of Appeal (consists of the court president, such number of justices of appeal as set by Parliament, and the Chief Justice and the puisne judges of the High Court ex officio); High Court (consists of the chief justice and such number of puisne judges as set by Parliament); note - both the Court of Appeal and the High Court have jurisdiction in constitutional issues judge selection and term of office: Court of Appeal president and High Court chief justice appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister; puisne judges appointed by the monarch on advice of the Judicial Service Commission, an independent body of judicial officers and officials designated by the monarch; judges of both courts can serve until age 75 subordinate courts: Magistrate Courts; customary or traditional courts; military courts |
| Political parties and leaders | All Basotho Convention or ABC (Motsoahae Thomas THABANE) Basotho Congress Party or BCP (Thulo MAHLAKENG) Basotho National Party or BNP (Thesele MASERIBANE) Democratic Congress or DC (Pakalitha MOSISILI) Lesotho Congress for Democracy or LCD (Mothetjoa METSING) Lesotho Peoples Congress or LPC (Molahlehi LETLOTLO) Marematlou Freedom Party or MFP (Vincent MALEBO) National Independent Party or NIP (Kimetso MATHABA) Popular Front for Democracy of PFD (Lekhetho RAKUOANE) Reformed Congress of Lesotho or RCL (Keketso RANTSO) |
| Political pressure groups and leaders | Media Institute of Southern Africa, Lesotho chapter (Tsebo MAT�ASA) (pushes for media freedom) |
| International organization participation | ACP, AfDB, AU, C, CD, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, SACU, SADC, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO |
| Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Eliachim Molapi SEBATANE (since 2 November 2011) chancery: 2511 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: (1) (202) 797-5533 FAX: (1) (202) 234-6815 |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Matthew T. HARRINGTON (since October 2014) embassy: 254 Kingsway Road, Maseru West (Consular Section) mailing address: P.O. Box 333, Maseru 100, Lesotho telephone: (266) 22 312 666 FAX: (266) 22 310 116 |
| Flag description | three horizontal stripes of blue (top), white, and green in the proportions of 3:4:3; the colors represent rain, peace, and prosperity respectively; centered in the white stripe is a black Basotho hat representing the indigenous people; the flag was unfurled in October 2006 to celebrate 40 years of independence |
| National symbol(s) | mokorotio (Basotho hat); national colors: blue, white, green, black |
| National anthem | name: "Lesotho fatse la bo ntat'a rona" (Lesotho, Land of Our Fathers) lyrics/music: Francois COILLARD/Ferdinand-Samuel LAUR note: adopted 1967; music derives from an 1823 Swiss songbook |