Lesotho swears in prime minister after tight polls

LESOTHO’S Pakalitha Mosisili was sworn in as prime minister on Tuesday, two weeks after he formed a coalition government that neighboring South Africa hopes will bring stability after nearly a year of unrest.

Mosisili’s Democratic Congress (DC) ousted former leader Thomas Thabane’s All Basotho Congress (ABC) by uniting with smaller parties, forming Lesotho’s second consecutive coalition government after the February 28 election produced no clear winner. Reuters

The election had to be brought forward by nearly two years after Thabane briefly fled to South Africa in August, when soldiers occupied police headquarters and encircled his palace.

Thabane accused his deputy, Mothetjoa Metsing, a member of the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD), of working with the army to oust him, an allegation Metsing and the military denied.