“This report presents the results of the research conducted by the author from
December 2003 to April 2004 in Maseru, Lesotho’s capital. The instruments and
methods used for generating the required data appear in the first section of this
report. The study reveals that the present parliamentary model is welcomed in
Lesotho, although the feeling, as deduced from the informants, is that parliament is alienated from the population, weakly linked with civil society and made up of poorly educated people who can hardly appreciate its role and functions. Parliament’s mixed membership has barely changed anything in terms of increasing popular participation and control. It has failed to reconcile the nation, as evidenced by the BNP’s refusal to participate in by-elections and the ruling
party’s view that PR parliamentary seats are not legitimate.”
