Lesotho: A step back in women’s representation in local government, but still an acceptable result

Preliminary results shared by the Independent Electoral Commission of the recent local government elections in Lesotho held in November 2011 show that women’s representation in councils has reduced to 47% from 58% in the previous election. While this is a slightly disappointing result with only four years left to reach the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development target of achieving 50% women representation in all decision making positions, it is still an acceptable one.

The lists show that a good number of women who contested the election were new candidates and this is a new electoral system. It is therefore encouraging that there were no major declines with the new system.

What is important is that Lesotho did not abandon the quota; that the result is still close to parity, and that the system seems to have been well understood and accepted. Lesotho learnt from the experience of another SADC country, Tanzania. This makes it a good case study for the region, gender and local government discourse generally.

The next edition will feature a full report once it is made available.