Joseph Leabua Jonathan (30 October 1914 – 5 April 1987) was the first prime minister of Lesotho. He succeeded Chief Sekhonyana Nehemia Maseribane following a by-election and held that post from 1965 to 1986.
Joseph Leabua Jonathan (30 October 1914 – 5 April 1987) was the first prime minister of Lesotho. He succeeded Chief Sekhonyana Nehemia Maseribane following a by-election and held that post from 1965 to 1986.
The 1986 Lesotho coup d'état was a military coup that took place in Lesotho on 20 January 1986, led by General Justin Lekhanya. It led to the deposition of Prime Minister Leabua Jonathan, who held the office since 1965 and assumed dictatorial powers in the 1970 coup d'état, after the general election was annulled.
General Lekhanya announced the creation of the Military Council, which would exercise all executive and legislative powers in the name of King Moshoeshoe II. Eventually, a power struggle developed between Lekhanya and the King, with the latter being forced into exile in the United Kingdom in February 1990, and officially dethroned in November of that year. Lekhanya himself was deposed in the 1991 coup d'état, led by Colonel Elias Phisoana Ramaema.
The Basotho National Party is a political party in Lesotho, founded in 1959 in colonial Basutoland as the Basutoland National Party by Leabua Jonathan. He was Prime Minister from the 1965 general election until the 1986 coup d'état.
In the 1993 general election, the BNP received almost 23% of the vote but did not win any seats in the National Assembly, with all 65 seats going to the party's rival, the Basutoland Congress Party (BCP). It suffered a similar defeat in the 1998 general election, in which it won 24.5% of the vote but only one seat in the National Assembly. Due to its lack of success in winning constituencies, the party sought the introduction of proportional representation in deciding the allocation of seats; as a compromise, a mixed system providing for 40 compensatory seats that would be decided through proportional representation (in addition to the 80 constituency seats) was introduced.