Gender Quotas Database
Lesotho
Southern Africa
Single / Lower House
National Assembly
| Total seats | 121 |
| Total women | 32 |
| Percentage of women | 26% |
| Election year | 2022 |
| Electoral system | MMP |
| Quota type | Legislated Candidate Quotas |
| Election details | IDEA Voter Turnout - IPU Parline |
| Legal source | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| Quota type: Legislated Candidate Quotas | Electoral law |
Nomination of Candidates: Party Lists Procedure for submitting party lists of candidates for elections under proportional representation … The list shall (c) include equal numbers of women and men. (Article 47) |
| Rank order/placement rules | Electoral law |
Nomination of Candidates: Party Lists Procedure for submitting party lists of candidates for elections under proportional representation ... The list shall (b) arrange the candidates in order of preference from top to bottom, with a female or male candidate immediately followed by a candidate of the opposite sex; (Article 47) |
| Is the provision of direct public funding to political parties related to gender equality among candidates? | No | See more in International IDEA's Political Finance database |
| Are there provisions for other financial advantages to encourage gender equality in political parties? | No | See more in International IDEA's Political Finance database |
Upper House
Senate
| Total seats | 33 |
| Total women | 8 |
| Percentage of women | 24% |
| Election year | 2022 |
| Electoral system | |
| Quota type | |
| Election details | IPU Parline |
| Legal source | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| No data available | ||
Quota at the Sub-National Level
| Quota type | Reserved seats |
| Legal source | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| Quota type: Reserved seats | Electoral law |
According to the Local Government Elections Act as amended in 2011, 30% of the total number of seats in municipal, urban and community councils are reserved for women and are distributed proportionally among the parties. |
Voluntary Political Party Quotas*
| Party | Official Name | Details, Quota provisions |
|---|---|---|
| No data available. | ||
* Only political parties represented in parliament are included. When a country has legislated quotas in place, only political parties that have voluntary quotas that exceed the percentage/number of the national quota legislation are presented in this table.
Additional information
In 2005, the Lesotho Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal from an aspirant male ward councillor to declare the reservation of one-third of the local government seats for women as unconstitutional. The councillor argued that the all-women constituencies violated his constitutional right to contest the elections in a constituency of his choice. The Court dismissed the appeal and upheld the High Court’s ruling. It held that the amendment which provided for a temporary and rotating quota of electoral divisions reserved for women was indeed reasonably justifiable in Lesotho’s circumstances. They agreed with what Justice Peete in the High Court described as ‘an undisputable fact … that women in our society have long stood disadvantaged and marginalised socially, economically and even politically.’
Unhappy with this decision, political parties lobbied the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to initiate an amendment to the 2005 law. Thus, the Local Government Elections Act was amended ahead of the 2011 local government elections. The new system revoked the system of reserved seats at the constituency level and introduced the system of 30 per cent seats reserved for women, distributed between parties on a proportional representation basis (‘M’a-Tlali Mapetla 2009).
Sources
Legal Sources:
Other Sources:
- Parliament of Lesotho - Link
- Electoral Commission - Link
- Gender Links, SADC Gender Protocol 2011 Barometer
- ‘M’a-Tlali Mapetla, M., ‘SADC Gender Protocol Barometer Baseline Study: Lesotho
- Inter-Parliamentary Union, IPU Parline Lesotho
Additional reading
- See the latest updates on Lesotho on iKNOW Politics
- Charumbira, S. (July 2, 2020). Matsepo Ramakoae and Lesotho's lost chance to elect its first female leader. The Guardian.
- Mukurunge, T. & Bhila, T. (2019). Gender Inequality in Politics (Lesotho). International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development, 3. doi:10.31142/ijtsrd21401.
- Ramakhula, T. (2019). In but out in Lesotho: Women's representation dilemma. [Policy Briefing] South African Institute of International Affairs .
- Lesotho Council of NGOs [LCN]. (2015). The status of women in Lesotho.
- Viljoen, F., & Nsibirwa, M. (2006). Political participation of women in Lesotho: the case of Molefi Ts’epe v The Independent Electoral Commission and Others, judgment of 30 June 2005.The Comparative and International Law Journal of Southern Africa, 39(2), 351–360.
- Letuka, P., Mapetla, M., & Matashane-Marite, K. (2004). Gender and elections in Lesotho. Perspectives on the 2002 elections. Electoral Institute of Southern Africa [EISA].
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