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Marematlou Freedom Party

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Politics of Lesotho
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The Marematlou Freedom Party (MFP) is a political party in Lesotho.

History

The party was established in December 1962 by a merger of the Freedom Party and the Marema-Tlou Party (MTP).[1] Soon after its formation several members of the Basutoland Congress Party defected to the MFP.[1]

When former MTP leader Seepheephe Matete was replaced as party president by Seth Makotoko he broke away to re-establish the MTP as a separate party.[2] Both contested the 1965 general elections, with the MFP winning four seats with 16.5% of the vote and the MTP no seats with 2.2% of the vote.

In the 1970 general elections the party's vote share fell to 7%, resulting in it being reduced to a single seat.

When multi-party democracy was restored in the 1990s the party contested the 1993 elections, receiving 1.4% of the vote and failing to win a seat. It remained seatless after receiving 1.3% of the vote in the 1998 elections. Despite its vote share falling to 1.2% in the 2002 elections, the party won a seat due to the new proportional electoral system. It retained the single seat in the 2007, 2012 and 2015 elections.

References

  1. ^ a b Scott Rosenberg, Richard F Weisfelder & Michell Frisbie-Fulton (2003) Historical Dictionary of Lesotho, Scarecrow Press, p222
  2. ^ Rosenberg et al., p223
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