Lesotho’s is set to hold snap elections after Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili lost a vote of confidence in parliament, a cabinet minister said.
According to Reuters, a slew of defections by ruling-coalition lawmakers to the opposition has badly weakened support for Mosisili in parliament two years after he came to power after an inconclusive vote.
“We will be going to the polls” said Minister of Defense Ts’eliso Mokhosi, referring to the cabinet.
Mosisili’s political adviser Fako Likoti had said the prime minister would call elections, although Mosisili himself did not make a public comment after the vote.
Lesotho, a small landlocked country of 2 million people surrounded by South Africa, has been hit by several coups since independence from Britain in 1966.
Lesotho’s law says elections must be held within three months of parliament being dissolved.
