Vote counting begins after Lesotho snap elections

Lesotho has been in crisis since June 2014, when Prime Minister Thomas Thabane suspended parliament [REUTERS]

Vote results were trickling in to the southern African mountain kingdom of Lesotho, after a snap election aimed at resolving a political crisis triggered by an alleged coup bid.
Tensions were high ahead of Saturday's parliamentary poll, which was called two years ahead of schedule, but election day passed off without incident, according to observers.

Al Jazeera's Erica Wood, reporting from the outskirts of Maseru, the capital, said that "Partial results have been announced, the incumbent PM Thomas Thabane's ABC party is out ahead of all other parties. Even in constituencies that have traditionally voted for his rivals."
The Deputy President of neighbouring South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, said shortly after polls closed at 15:00 GMT, "Everything I've come across tells me everything has gone extremely well."

From my side it is congratulations to the people of Lesotho for having come this far to hold a peaceful election," Ramaphosa added.
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) also said the election had proceeded largely without incident, although some ballot papers in two of over 2,000 polling stations did not have the names of all candidates.
"In Lesotho, we don't count the votes electronically, we count them manually," said IEC official Rethabile Pholo.
"The voting has been proceeding peacefully and according to plan," said IEC chairman Justice Mahapela Lehohla.
According to local media, about 1.2 million people - out of a population of 2.2 million - were registered to vote.
Political crisis
Lesotho has been in crisis since June 2014, when Prime Minister Thomas Thabane suspended parliament to avoid a motion that would have seen him ousted from power after his fragile coalition government fell apart.

On August 30, soldiers attacked police headquarters, looting weapons and killing one officer.

Thabane described the violence as a coup attempt fuelled by the opposition and fled to neighbouring South Africa.

Both the military and opposition denied any bid to topple him.

The army was confined to barracks during Saturday's vote.
Ramaphosa was appointed by the regional bloc Southern African Development Community (SADC) last year to try to broker an end to the deadlock.

Landlocked Lesotho is completely surrounded by South Africa and is heavily dependent on its bigger neighbour in economic terms.

Analysts have warned the election could turn violent if any one party wins an outright majority - particularly Thabane's All Basotho Convention (ABC).

Two other parties - the Democratic Congress led by former prime minister Pakalitha Mosisili and the Basotho National Party (BNP) - are contesting the parliamentary elections.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies