Lesotho High Court judge Semapo Peete on Friday postponed an application by opposition Basotho National Party (BNP) leader Major General Metsing Lekhanya, who accused the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) of vote rigging.
Lekhanya and all 20 members of his party in Parliament lodged the urgent application seeking a recount of the votes.
However, counsel for the IEC asked for a postponement to give the body enough time to prepare a reply to the allegations.
Granting the postponement to September 2, Peete said the allegations were serious and that justice required that the other side be heard.
In his affidavit Lekhanya alleged that the number of ballot papers printed by far exceeded the number of registered voters.
He also claimed that his party had traced about 637000 papers which ”found their way illegally into the electoral system under irregular and suspicious circumstances”.
The IEC, he said, ”had the ability to print (ballot papers) at will in order to manipulate and engineer the outcome of the election results” in favour of the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD).
Lesotho’s election in May saw nine opposition parties win seats with the ruling LCD maintaining a sizeable majority.
The elections were declared free and fair by both international regional observer teams.
The country was thrown into turmoil following the 1998 elections, when the BNP sparked riots and strikes in Maseru. The violence left 75 people dead before troops from South Africa and Botswana helped restore order. – Sapa