FINAL RESULTS OF THE APRIL 30 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS

UNCLAS MASERU 000244 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KDEM LT SUBJECT: FINAL RESULTS OF THE APRIL 30 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS REF: A) MASERU 240 B) MASERU 228 C) MASERU 220 ¶1. The final results of the local government elections held on April 30 have been released by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC). The voter turnout was only 30%; participation by young voters seems to have been very limited. The ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) is reported to have won the majority of seats in most of the 129 community councils (including the uncontested councils),with the Basotho National Party (BNP) the largest opposition party, the Lesotho People's Congress (LPC) and independent candidates winning most of the other seats. (Per ref C, a group of eleven opposition parties refused to endorse the elections, but did not direct their members to abstain from participating as voter and/or candidates.) Other parties had very modest showings. Vote totals by party, however, are not available, and may not be for a considerable time (see para 3 below). ¶2. The voter turnout at national level and at district level was as follows: NATION-WIDE VOTER TURNOUT = 30.28 % DISTRICT REGISTERED VOTERS VOTES TURNOUT ¶1. BEREA 86218 26656 30.92 % ¶2. BUTHA-BUTHE 46847 15231 32.51 % ¶3. LERIBE 122727 39186 31.93 % ¶4. MAFETENG 82856 27535 33.23 % ¶5. MASERU 213871 37587 17.57 % ¶6. MOHALE'S HOEK 73142 26728 36.54 % ¶7. MOKHOTLONG 39943 16596 41.55 % ¶8. QACHA'S NEK 20433 8542 42 % ¶9. QUTHING 45890 18713 40.78 % 10.THABA-TSEKA 51852 20549 39.63 % TOTAL: 783,779 237,323 ¶3. COMMENT: The results reflect a slightly higher voter participation in the more rural districts (nos. 7 through 10 above) than in urban ones. The general lack of interest in the elections was especially pronounced among younger voters. An IEC spokesman claimed this week that the organization lacks the resources to provide a percentage breakdown of votes by party. This seems to contradict an earlier statement by the IEC Chairman touting the commission's state-of-the-art equipment and adequate manpower to hold the elections. Not providing this information may needlessly raise suspicions about the integrity of the election process. However, Commonwealth observers gave the IEC good marks for its handling of the elections. The group of eleven major opposition parties which had requested postponement of elections is expected to issue a statement within the next day or so regarding the election results. The parties are meeting May 11 to analyze the results and agree on their next course of action. END COMMENT. PERRY