Supporters of Thomas Thabane
“Currently most of the urban areas have been counted, which is a good indicator,” Maliako Ralejoe, an official with the Independent Electoral Commission, told AFP on Sunday.
“We have had challenges with the rural areas as some areas are still counting, but Maseru is complete. We estimate that Tuesday we will be able to announce the final verdict,” she said.
Lesotho voted on Saturday in a close three-way race that could produce the country’s first coalition government, following a series of splits in the ruling party.
Vote counting began immediately after polls closed on Saturday evening, but tallying the results from remote mountain communities poses a logistical challenge in this largely rural nation.
Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili, in power since 1998, is asking voters to give him another term in office at the helm of his new Democratic Congress.
His main rival is Mothejoa Metsing, the new leader of the Lesotho Congress for Democracy, the party that Mosisili abandoned in February.
Hoping to benefit from the split in the ruling party is opposition leader Tom Thabane, who heads another breakaway party, the All Basotho Convention. – Sapa