Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA), in collaboration with the Lesotho Council for Non-Governmental Organisations (LCN) will hold a regional conference under the theme “Lesotho’s 2007 General Election: Challenges and prospects for the constructive management of post-election disputes” at the Maseru Sun hotel in Maseru, Lesotho from 25^th to 27^th September 2007.   

The primary goal of this regional conference is to promote national dialogue on election-related disputes in Lesotho taking into account selected regional experiences from other SADC member states. Specifically, the main objectives of the conference are as follows:

• To contribute to the on-going dialogue on the causes of and sustainable solutions to election disputes in Lesotho following its 2007 poll;
• To provide a regional forum for a lessons-learning exercise on strategies and methodologies for managing election-related disputes constructively among a group of selected SADC member-states;
• To explore the significance of the synergistic linkages (cooperation) between external and internal actors in the management of such conflicts;
• To review the MMP system as it has been applied in Lesotho and use the lessons of the 2007 elections to inform ongoing electoral reforms in the region; and
• To review the practice of party alliances and coalitions with a view to reducing intra-party and inter-party conflicts during elections in Lesotho and drawing lessons for other SADC countries.

The Kingdom of Lesotho held a snap election on the 17^th February 2007. The aftermath of the election has been marked by various types of disputes and conflicts with implications for the country’s democratization and socio-economic advancement. Efforts towards management of the post-election disputes have witnessed attempts by civil society agencies and the churches initiating dialogue aimed at an amicable resolution of the conflict. Further more, the post-election tension has led to the intervention of the Southern African Development community (SADC) through the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, which initiated a national stakeholder dialogue process facilitated by Sir Ketumile Masire, the former President of Botswana.

Invited to this important conference are senior party members so as to have an interactive dialogue conference for the benefit of all participants and a high calibre of presenters. 

Thandiwe Solwandle (Ms.)

Lesotho Council of NGOs

Information Communications Officer

Tel: +266 22317205/22325798

Mobile: +266 63065214

thandiwes@lecongo.org.ls

www.lecongo.org.ls