Heather Nauert
Department of State Spokesperson
Washington, DC
June 8, 2017
The United States congratulates the people of Lesotho for participating peacefully in national elections on June 3, 2017. The United States looks forward to working productively with a new Lesotho government as soon as a coalition is finalized and a new Prime Minister is sworn in. We also commend Lesotho’s Independent Electoral Commission for leading a well-managed and credible electoral process and all major political parties for accepting the outcome.
We welcome the robust engagement of international observer missions from the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Union, the Commonwealth, and other well-regarded organizations. SADC, in particular, has been a strong partner to Lesotho during a difficult period over the past three years. With its observer mission, SADC demonstrated once again that it holds Lesotho’s governing institutions to a high standard and that SADC itself has a valuable role to play in promoting democracy and good governance in the region.
Political parties in Lesotho signed a pledge to engage seriously after the election in a process of reform, including of the security sector, the constitution, and the public sector. We urge those parties – and the new government – to engage seriously in a reform process that is independent, transparent, and inclusive of all key stakeholders. Implementation of these reforms is critically important to Lesotho’s sustained political stability and consolidation of its democratic institutions.
The United States looks forward to working with Lesotho’s new government and the Basotho people to advance our longstanding mutual interests in economic development, trade, health care, and the strengthening of democratic institutions.
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