Maseru – Key dates since independence in the southern African mountain nation of Lesotho, which holds legislative elections on Friday after decades of political turmoil:
Restive monarchy
On October 4, 1966, the former British protectorate of Basutoland gains independence.
Moshoeshoe II is crowned king, though in 1970 he is forced into exile by the prime minister after disputed elections.
He returns after several months but a new constitution in 1973 bars him from getting involved into politics.
In 1986, South Africa’s apartheid regime foments a coup to prevent the country from serving as a base for the African National Congress (ANC), which is leading the fight against white rule. The Prime Minister is replaced by General Justin Lekhanya.
Moshoeshoe is again forced into exile in 1990 after another military putsch and is replaced by his son Letsie III.
In 1993, Lesotho returns to a constitutional monarchy, holding democratic elections.
On January 25, 1995, Moshoeshoe is restored to the throne after his son abdicates.
But the monarch dies a year later in a car crash and the crown is returned to Letsie.
Mutinies and foreign interventions
On May 23, 1998, the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) party wins a disputed general election.
Demonstrations and an army mutiny prompt an intervention by South African and Botswanan troops, and 75 people are killed in clashes in the capital, which is badly damaged.
In 2007, the LCD, led by Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili, wins 61 of 120 seats in parliament. The country goes through another political crisis as the opposition contests the results.
A curfew is imposed in Maseru after a series of attacks on ministers and their bodyguards.
In 2012, the LCD loses its majority, and the country enters an era of coalition governments.
Thomas Thabane, leader of an opposition party, is appointed Prime Minister, marking the first change of power between political parties through the ballot box.
In 2014, the army, led by sacked army chief General Tlali Kamoli, seizes control of police headquarters. Thabane calls the attack an attempted coup and flees to South Africa.
Murder and political crisis
Thabane returns in 2017 and wins early parliamentary elections.
But two days before the inauguration his estranged wife Lipolelo is murdered. Thabane remarries two months later.
The newlyweds are later accused of having hired hitmen to kill Lipolelo.
In 2020, the prime minister gives in to pressure over the case and steps down.
Finance minister Moeketsi Majoro replaces him as head of government.
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Source: AFP
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