Basutoland Congress Party

The Basutoland Congress Party is a pan-Africanist and left-wing political party in Lesotho.

Basutoland Congress Party
Founded1952
IdeologyPan-Africanism
African nationalism
African socialism
Political positionLeft-wing

The Basutoland African Congress (BAC) was founded in 1952 by Ntsu Mokhehle and Potlako Leballo. The party was renamed the Basutoland Congress Party (BCP) in 1957 and retained this name after independence in 1966, stating that Lesotho was not truly independent. Leballo left the party in 1959 to form the Pan Africanist Congress of South Africa (PAC).

The BCP lost the 1965 election but won in 1970. It was denied power by a coup d'état in support of the defeated prime minister Leabua Jonathan.[1]

In 1974, following an unsuccessful rising, the BCP sent 178 men for military training by the PAC in Gaddafi's Libya. In 1979 they began a guerrilla war as the Lesotho Liberation Army (LLA).

The party won a landslide victory at the 1993 general election, and its leader Ntsu Mokhehle became prime minister. Mokhehle left the party in 1997 with his faction to form the Lesotho Congress for Democracy. The BCP was led by Tseliso Makhakhe, Qhobela Molapo, Ntsukunyane Mphanya and (currently) Thulo Mahlakeng.

At the 25 May 2002 general election, the party won 2.6% of the vote and 3 out of 120 seats.[2]

Election results
Election Votes % Seats +/– Status
1960
30 / 80
1965 103,068 40.04
25 / 60
 Decrease-5 Opposition
1970 152,907 49.88
36 / 60
 Increase11 BNP coup d'état
1985 Boycotted
1993 398,355 74.78
65 / 65
 Supermajority
1998 62,313 10.49
0 / 89
 Decrease-65 Extraparliamentary
2002 14,584 2.63
3 / 120
 Increase3 Opposition
2007 9,823 2.22
1 / 120
 Decrease2 Opposition
2012 2,531 0.46
1 / 120
 Steady Opposition
2015 2,721 0.48
1 / 120
 Steady Opposition
2017 3,458 0.59
1 / 120
 Steady Opposition
2022 1,908 0.37
0 / 120
 Decrease 1 Extraparliamentary

References
  1. "Lesotho (11/02)". U.S. Department of State. Archived from the original on 24 December 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  2. "EISA Lesotho: National Assembly Election results 2002". www.eisa.org. Retrieved 5 January 2021.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.