Conflict resolution and peace building through electoral and parliamentary reform: a note on Lesotho's mixed-member parliament (MMP)

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Periodical article

Title:	Conflict resolution and peace building through electoral and parliamentary reform: a note on Lesotho's mixed-member parliament (MMP)
Author:	Makoa, F.K.
Year:	2005
Periodical:	Lesotho Law Journal: A Journal of Law and Development
Volume:	15
Issue:	1
Pages:	171-192
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Lesotho
Subjects:	parliament electoral systems
Abstract:	Lesotho has since May 2002 switched from a Westminster style winner-takes-all or first-past-the-post electoral and parliamentary system to a mixed-member type with two categories of parliamentarians: one elected directly from the country's 80 constituencies on the basis of the first-past-the-post system, the other comprising 40 members allocated seats in accordance with their parties' percentage share of the total number of votes. Adopted under international pressure to resolve the perennial crisis dogging Lesotho's electoral system, the 120-member mixed-member parliament has been hailed as a peacemaking and stabilizing force by many Sotho people, international donors, the United Nations and external conflict mediators. However, while it is an exit from a political framework that left no room for minority participation, its corporatist strategy underscores rather than eliminates or narrows the deep political chasm in Lesotho society. Lesotho's mixed-member parliament is more a means of controlling the opposition than a mechanism for expanding democracy. Bibliogr., sum. [ASC Leiden abstract]