The Advent of Coalition Politics and the Crisis of Constitutionalism in Lesotho

Abstract

The advent of coalition politics in the aftermath of the inconclusive 2012 election brought with it fresh challenges to constitutionalism in Lesotho. The challenges started with the process of the formation of government, sustenance of a coalition, and much more importantly, the executive powers of the office of Prime Minister. The country transitioned into the era of coalition politics with the same constitutional and legal framework which undergirded government in a single-party majoritarian setup. It did not take long until the country was plunged into a constitutional crisis which manifested itself through a stand-off between the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister. The crisis led to the collapse of the coalition government, barely two years into its normal electoral cycle. The purpose of this chapter is to analyse the nature of this constitutional crisis by studying the various constitutional episodes which characterised this crisis in 2014. The chapter contends that while some of these episodes may qualify to be called ‘constitutional crises’, not all incidences of political disagreement amounted to that.