The impact of intra-party conflicts on the electoral performance of the All Basotho convention in Lesotho’s 2022 elections

Abstract

The literature on Lesotho’s politics and political parties, particularly after 2012, focuses on their alliances and coalitions, their relationships with the military and the seemingly instability of coalitions. There is less focus on intra-party instability and its impact on political party electoral performance. This article uses a critical literature review to analyse the poor electoral performance of the All Basotho Convention (ABC) in the October 2022 elections and how this is a consequence of its internal conflicts. The ABC experienced intra-party conflicts that increased with the removal of its leader, Prime Minister Thomas Thabane, in 2020. The argument advanced in this article is that the ABC experienced a dramatic decline in electoral support in October 2022, with the drastic loss of forty seats, as a result of its internal conflicts. The party’s support had grown gradually since its formation in 2006 but dropped suddenly and dramatically in the 2022 elections. This article will contribute to the scholarship on the analysis of the electoral performance of political parties in the continent.