Mokorotio (Basotho hat); national colors: blue, white, green, black.
Title | "Lesotho fatse la bo ntat'a rona" (Lesotho, Land of Our Fathers) |
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Lyric/music | Francois COILLARD/Ferdinand-Samuel LAUR |
Date of Independence | 4 October 1966 (from the UK) |
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National holiday | Independence Day, 4 October (1966) |
Legal system | mixed legal system of English common law and Roman-Dutch law; judicial review of legislative acts in High Court and Court of Appeal |
International law organization participation | accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction |
Constitution | |
History | Previous 1959, 1967; latest adopted 2 April 1993 (effectively restoring the 1967 version) |
Amendments | Proposed by Parliament; passage of amendments affecting constitutional provisions, including fundamental rights and freedoms, sovereignty of the kingdom, the office of the king, and powers of Parliament, requires a majority vote by the National Assembly, approval by the Senate, approval in a referendum by a majority of qualified voters, and assent of the king; passage of amendments other than those specified provisions requires at least a two-thirds majority vote in both houses of Parliament; amended several times, last in 2011 |
Citizenship | |
Citizenship by birth | yes |
Citizenship by descent only | yes |
Dual citizenship recognized | no |
Residency requirement for naturalization | 5 years |
Executive Branch | |
Chief of state | King LETSIE III (since 7 February 1996) |
Head of government | Prime Minister Ntsokoane Samuel MATEKANE (28 October 2022) |
Cabinet | consists of the prime minister, appointed by the King on the advice of the Council of State, the deputy prime minister, and 18 other ministers; the prime minister is the leader of the majority party or majority coalition in the National Assembly |
Elections/appointments | the monarchy is hereditary, but under the terms of the constitution that came into effect after the March 1993 election, the monarch is a "living symbol of national unity" with no executive or legislative powers; under traditional law, the College of Chiefs has the power to depose the monarch, to determine next in line of succession, or to serve as regent in the event that a successor is not of mature age note - King LETSIE III formerly occupied the throne from November 1990 to February 1995 while his father was in exile |
Legislative branch | |
Description | Bicameral Parliament consists of: Senate (33 seats; 22 principal chiefs and 11 other senators nominated by the king with the advice of the Council of State, a 13-member body of key government and non-government officials; members serve 5-year terms) National Assembly (120 seats; 80 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote and 40 elected through proportional representation; members serve 5-year terms) |
Elections | Senate - last appointed by the king in November 2022 (next to be appointed 2028) National Assembly - last held on 7 October 2022 (next to be held in February 2028) |
Election results | Senate - percent of votes by party - NA, seats by party - NA; composition - men 25, women 8, percentage women 24.2% National Assembly - percent of votes by party - RFP 38.9%, DC 24.7%, ABC 7.1%, BAP 5.4%, AD 4.0%, MEC 3.2%, LCD 2.3%, SR 2.1%, BNP 1.4%, PFD 0.9%, BCM 0.8%, MPS 0.8%, MIP 0.7%; seats by party - RFP 56, DC 29, ABC 8, BAP 6, AD 5, MEC 4, LCD 3, SR 2, BNP 1, PFD 1, BCM 1, MPS 1, NIP 1, HOPE 1, TBD 1; composition - men 90, women 30, percentage 25%; note - total Parliament percentage women 24.8% |
Judicial branch | |
Highest court(s) | Court of Appeal (consists of the court president, such number of justices of appeal as set by Parliament, and the Chief Justice and the puisne judges of the High Court ex officio); High Court (consists of the chief justice and such number of puisne judges as set by Parliament); note - both the Court of Appeal and the High Court have jurisdiction in constitutional issues |
Judge selection and term of office | Court of Appeal president and High Court chief justice appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister; puisne judges appointed by the monarch on advice of the Judicial Service Commission, an independent body of judicial officers and officials designated by the monarch; judges of both courts can serve until age 75 |
Subordinate courts | Magistrate Courts; customary or traditional courts; military courts |
Diplomatic representation in the US | |
Chief of mission | Ambassador Tumisang MOSOTHO (since 16 September 2022) |
Chancery | 2511 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 |
Telephone | [1] (202) 797-5533 |
FAX | [1] (202) 234-6815 |
Email address and website | [email protected] https://www.gov.ls/ |
Diplomatic representation from the US | |
Chief of mission | Ambassador Maria E. BREWER (since 10 March 2022) |
Embassy | 254 Kingsway Avenue, Maseru |
Mailing address | 2340 Maseru Place, Washington DC 20521-2340 |
Telephone | [266] 22312666 |
FAX | [266] 22310116 |
Email address and website | [email protected] https://ls.usembassy.gov/ |
National heritage | |
Total World Heritage Sites | 1 (mixed) |
Selected World Heritage Site locales | Maloti-Drakensberg Park |
Want to know more about Lesotho? Check all different factbooks for Lesotho below.