Delays in Lesotho poll

Some voters waited for more than two hours

A new, untested electoral system is being blamed for delays in parliamentary elections in the southern African state of Lesotho.

Voting so far has been peaceful

BBC correspondents in the capital Maseru say that some people have had to wait up to two hours to vote and some polling stations opened late.

Turn-out is reported to be high.

Nineteen parties are competing in the elections, which are being conducted under a new system designed to prevent a repetition of the violence that marred the last general election in 1998.

That vote ended in a massive landslide for the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy and provoked months of opposition protests that eventually led to a military intervention by troops from South Africa and Botswana.

The new system should ensure that many of the competing parties emerge with at least a small say in the newly enlarged parliament - it could also produce the country's first coalition government.

Poverty

The voters' top concern, says the BBC's Richard Lee, is the country's ailing economy: unemployment stands at about 40% and more than half of the population live in poverty.

Other issues include the struggling education system, looming food shortages and the soaring rate of HIV-Aids, which has now infected 24% of the country's adults.

Before elections began some voters complained that Lesotho's politicians were all the same and had nothing new to offer.

"Almost all the parties have prepared manifestos but they have not been circulated widely," said Malefetsane Nkhahle, the executive secretary of the Interim Political Authority.

"So it is not easy to tell this time whether people will be voting because they clearly understood what the party stood for or just because of the personalities within the parties."

Confusion fears

The new electoral system is extremely complex and has never been used in Africa before.

People are confident the political chaos of 1998 will not be repeated

Eighty constituency MPs will be elected by the traditional first-past-the-post system, while another 40 will gain seats thanks to a form of proportional representation.

Voters have to fill out two sets of ballot papers in a system which is more likely to produce a fairer outcome but may cause confusion to many of the voters, our correspondent says.

"Why do we have to vote twice?" asked taxi driver Ben Ntoi.

"I don't understand this new system at all but I am going to go and try to cast my vote anyway."

Reduced majority

The new process has also made it harder than usual to predict who will win.

Many analysts believe the governing LCD will triumph but with a much reduced majority.

However, some people believe that no single party will end up in control of parliament.

"We intend to try and win this election but we foresee some kind of a coalition because of the new electoral system," said Kelebone Maope, leader of the opposition Lesotho People's Congress (LPC).

Whatever the outcome, most people are confident that there will be no re-run of the political chaos of 1998.