Voters in the small southern African kingdom of Lesotho are heading to the polls to elect a new government in the third general election since 2012.

Saturday's poll is seen as a two-horse race between old rivals Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili and Thomas Thabane, who ruled from 2012 to 2015.

The winner is set to emerge from post-vote negotiations, yet analysts expect the election to lead to another fractious coalition government and the risk of instability in a country where years of political infighting have undermined attempts to tackle high poverty and unemployment rates.

Voting opened at 7am (05:00 GMT) and closes at 5pm (15:00 GMT), with counting expected to take several days. According to the electoral commission, 1.2 million people have registered to vote.

Long queues formed outside polling stations from early morning despite the winter chill.

Voting has begun in #Lesotho. A few dozen at the Abia voting station.Still early &cold.; 2015 voter turnout was about 47% #LesothoVotes2017 pic.twitter.com/6Nxve3XC4k — Fahmida Miller (@FahmidaMiller) June 3, 2017

Tired of frequent elections, voters are ultimately seeking stability, Al Jazeera's Fahmida Miller, reporting from the capital, Maseru, said.

"It is not a change in the leadership they are looking for necessarily. They want a stable and effective government," Miller said.

"What we have seen in the Lesotho politics in the last few years are constitutional difficulties and political in-fighting that have led to the same two leaders racing for power again."

READ MORE: Election looms as Lesotho PM loses confidence vote

The snap election was announced in March when Mosisili lost a no-confidence vote after his seven-party coalition government broke up less than two years after it was formed.

Mosisili, the 72-year-old leader of the Democratic Congress (DC) party, is running to serve as prime minister for the third time. He was first premier from 1998 to 2012 and returned to power in 2015 after a snap election.

Despite his long years in office, critics accuse him doing little to improve standards of living for the majority of people in the country who languish in poverty, and he is often seen as aloof.

Thabane, the leader of the All Basotho Convention (ABC), was unseated by a coup attempt in 2014, prompting him to flee to South Africa, where he lived in exile for two years. The 77-year-old returned in February, saying he still feared for his life.

He has drawn large crowds to his rallies and is seen as the narrow favourite.

In Maseru, the two leaders have competed for votes via giant billboards and posters.

"There is speculation that perhaps the army may connive with some politicians when the election outcome has been announced; that they should refuse the outcome of the election. That is not immediately foreseeable," political analyst Hoolo Nyane told Al Jazeera.

"What is foreseeable is that if another government, other than this one, manages to win power, it is not going to work smoothly in terms of management."

The mountainous landlocked country suffers high unemployment and a 22.7 percent HIV-AIDS infection rate in adults, with an economy dependent on South Africa, which surrounds it completely.

Constitutional monarchy

Lesotho is a constitutional monarchy ruled by King Letsie III, who has no formal power; it has a mixed parliamentary system.

80 members of parliament are voted in by constituents, while another 40 seats are distributed proportionally.

Mosisili's DC party is forecast to join forces with the Lesotho Congress of Democracy (LCD) and the Popular Front for Democracy (PFD).

Thabane's ABC party and the Alliance Democrats (AD) of Monyane Moleleki, a former police minister, are also in talks to form a possible coalition government.

Reflecting frustration at the country's politics, voter turnout declined sharply to just 46 percent in 2015 from 66 percent in 2002.</s>Maseru — Two veteran former prime ministers lead the field in Lesotho’s election on Saturday, in a vote likely to result in another coalition government for the landlocked mountain kingdom.

The country’s political landscape has been dominated for years by party splits and fragile coalitions.

Mosisili, the 72-year-old leader of the Democratic Congress (DC) party, is running to serve as prime minister for the third time, having stepped down after losing a no-confidence vote in March.

He was first premier from 1998 to 2012, and returned to power in 2015 after a snap election.

Despite his long years in office, critics accuse him of doing little to improve standards of living for the majority of people in the country who languish in poverty, and he is often seen as aloof.

His removal in March came after he failed to hold together his seven-party coalition as in-fighting overshadowed government business.

After returning to office in 2015, Mosisili styled himself an anti-corruption crusader.

The former university lecturer entered politics as a student in 1967, when he joined the former ruling Basutoland Congress Party (BCP).

In 1998 he was elected leader of Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD), after it split from the BCP.

Mosisili left the LCD to form the DC in 2012.

Thabane, a former prime minister and leader of the All Basotho Convention (ABC), was targeted by a putsch in 2014, prompting him to flee to South Africa, where he lived in exile for two years.

The 77-year-old returned home in February, saying he still feared for his life.

Thabane came to power in 2012 as head of the country’s first coalition government, formed after an inconclusive vote.

But the alliance was marred by political bickering, which culminated in the August 2014 coup attempt led by the army.

He sought exile in South Africa after soldiers attacked police posts and surrounded his official residence.

"I am taking a huge risk by going back to Lesotho," he told South African media outlets ahead of his return earlier this year.

"The threat on my life is still there. However, politics is a risky business." An old hand in Lesotho politics, Thabane founded the ABC in 2006 after years of manoeuvring between parties.

He remains popular in urban areas, and a sea of supporters clad in yellow, the party’s colour, gathered to welcome him upon his return.

He previously served as foreign minister and home affairs minister.

Moleleki, leader of the newly formed Alliance of Democrats (AD), defected from the governing coalition in December.

He joined Mosisili when he founded the Democratic Congress in 2012, before breaking away to form the AD. "We have been in the politics of killing one another," the 66-year-old told supporters at his party’s inaugural rally in January.

"We formed a new party because we want to end politics of hostilities." As natural resources minister, Moleleki was accused in 2013 of abuse of office for facilitating a licence for a diamond mine.

He was acquitted of the charges in March 2017.

At 39, Mochoboroane, the former minister of small-business development, is the youngest of the main players.

He was secretary general of the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) until his ousting early this year.

In February Mochoboroane founded the Movement for Economic Change (MEC) — yet another addition to the Lesotho’s crowded political arena.

Described by an ally as "young, fresh, dynamic, innovative and unconventional", he hopes to draw support from young people in a country where veterans dominate politics.</s>SEMONKONG, Lesotho (AP) — People in mountainous Lesotho, some wrapped in blankets to ward off the cold, were voting in national elections on Saturday amid concerns about chronic political instability in the southern African country.

In a typical scene in rural areas, voters lined up outside a polling station in a tent in the central town of Semonkong. Analysts believe the results, which could take days to count, will likely lead to the formation of another fragile governing coalition.

Elections were called after Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili, whose coalition took power in 2015, lost a no-confidence vote in parliament in March. Mosisili’s main rival is former ally and predecessor Tom Thabane, who fled to South Africa in 2014, saying soldiers planned to assassinate him as part of a coup attempt.

South Africa, whose territory surrounds Lesotho, has played a leading role in mediating among factions in the nation of two million people. Mediators had recommended the dismissal of the military chief, Lt. Gen. Tlali Kamoli, and Mosisili eventually fired him last year.

The opposition has alleged that the military is sympathetic to Mosisili’s Democratic Congress party and its coalition partners, and hostile to the All Basotho Congress party of Thabane. The military denies any intention to intervene if Mosisili loses the election, the Lesotho Times newspaper reported.

Two dozen political parties are contesting the elections, and 120 parliamentary seats are at stake. It is the third vote in Lesotho since 2012, reflecting instability that critics say has undermined efforts to address problems including unemployment and one of the highest HIV/AIDS rates in the world.

Lesotho is a critical source of water for parched South Africa, and many of its citizens seek employment in mines and other industries there. Lesotho’s king, Letsie III, has a ceremonial role that included calling for Saturday’s elections.</s>Lesotho votes in third election in five years

Voters in the small southern African kingdom of Lesotho cast ballots Saturday in an election expected to lead to another fractious coalition government and the risk of deepening instability.

It is the third general election since 2012 in Lesotho, where years of political in-fighting have undermined attempts to tackle dire poverty and unemployment.

Long queues formed outside polling stations, with many voters wearing traditional Basotho blankets to ward off the winter chill.

The snap election was announced in March when Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili, 72, lost a no-confidence vote after his seven-party coalition government broke up less than two years after it was formed.

The vote is seen as a two-horse race between old rivals Mosisili and Thomas Thabane, who ruled from 2012 to 2015, with the victor set to emerge from post-vote negotiations with coalition partners.

Thabane, 77, drew large crowds to his rallies and is seen as the narrow favourite.

Protests could break out if Mosisili is defeated and he refuses to concede power “as his attitude and actions suggest he might,” said Peter Fabricius of the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies.

Fabricius said SADC, the southern African regional body, had made it clear to Mosisili that “it will not tolerate any theft of the election.”

In the capital Maseru, Thabane’s All Basotho Congress (ABC) and Mosisili’s Democratic Congress (DC) party have competed for votes via giant billboards and posters.

“It is not likely that a single party will garner a majority of votes,” political analyst Mafa Sejanamane, of the National University of Lesotho, told AFP.

“The urban vote is largely set to go to the ABC. The vote in rural areas is now likely to be shared between the DC and its splinter, the Alliance of Democrats.”

The mountainous country suffers high unemployment and a 22.7 percent HIV-AIDS rate in adults, with an economy dependent on South Africa, which surrounds it completely.

“Our country is poor and a lot of money has been spent holding these elections. I’m here to vote for a party to put us first — not politics,” said Naledi Metsing, as she voted outside the capital.

“We just voted two years ago and that government did not do much for the people.”

Augustine Mahiga, Tanzania’s foreign minister who is heading the SADC observer mission, said voting was orderly.

“The cycle of elections in this country is one of the challenges since there has been no completion of the normal five-year term in a long time,” he added.

Thabane was forced to flee to South Africa in 2014 after an attempted coup by the army.

“It was the most undignified thing that happened to me, to wear (just) my pants… and go through the fence with my wife, running away from the state house,” Thabane told AFP on the campaign trail.

At his final rally, Mosisili accused Thabane of escaping to seek foreign protection after “chowing through the public’s money.”

Critics accuse the national army of meddling in politics and of favouring Mosisili.

Lesotho is a constitutional monarchy ruled by King Letsie III, who has no formal power, and it has a mixed parliamentary system.Eighty lawmakers are voted in by constituents, while another 40 seats are distributed proportionally.

Mosisili’s DC party is forecast to join forces with the Lesotho Congress of Democracy (LCD) and the Popular Front for Democracy (PFD).Thabane’s ABC party and the Alliance Democrats (AD) of Monyane Moleleki, a former police minister, are also in talks to form a possible coalition government.

Reflecting frustration at the country’s politics, voter turnout declined to 46 percent in 2015 from 66 percent in 2002.Voting closes at 1500 GMT, with counting expected to take several days.

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Also, Like us on facebook</s>JOHANNESBURG 3 JUNE 2017 - Former Prime Minister of Lesotho Thomas Thabane casts his vote as the citizens goes to the polls on Saturday. Video: eNCA

MASERU – The election in which Lesotho voters cast their ballots on Saturday is expected to lead to another fractious coalition government and the risk of deepening instability.

It is the third general election since 2012 in Lesotho, where years of political in-fighting have undermined attempts to tackle dire poverty and unemployment.

Long queues formed outside polling stations, with many voters wearing traditional Basotho blankets to ward off the winter chill.

The snap election was announced in March when Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili (72) lost a no-confidence vote after his seven-party coalition government broke up less than two years after it was formed.

The vote is seen as a two-horse race between old rivals Mosisili and Thomas Thabane, who ruled from 2012 to 2015, with the victor set to emerge from post-vote negotiations with coalition partners.

Critics accuse the national army of favouring Mosisili, and small numbers of soldiers were seen by AFP near many ballot stations.

Thabane (77) drew large crowds to his campaign rallies and is seen as the narrow favourite.

Protests could break out if Mosisili is defeated and he refuses to concede power "as his attitude and actions suggest he might," said analyst Peter Fabricius of the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies.

Fabricius said SADC, the Southern African regional body, had made it clear to Mosisili that "it will not tolerate any theft of the election."

In the capital Maseru, Thabane's All Basotho Congress (ABC) and Mosisili's Democratic Congress (DC) party have competed for votes via giant billboards and posters.

"It is not likely that a single party will garner a majority of votes," political analyst Mafa Sejanamane, of the National University of Lesotho, told AFP.

"The urban vote is largely set to go to the ABC. The vote in rural areas is now likely to be shared between the DC and its splinter, the Alliance of Democrats."

The mountainous country suffers high unemployment and a 22.7 percent HIV-AIDS rate in adults, with an economy dependent on South Africa, which surrounds it completely.

Thabane, who was forced to flee to South Africa in 2014 after an attempted coup by the army, said that he would accept the result if he lost.

"Lesotho can only survive if it follows the true democratic system," he told journalists after voting.

At his final rally, Mosisili accused Thabane of fleeing Lesotho to seek foreign protection after "chowing through the public's money."

Augustine Mahiga, the Tanzanian foreign minister heading SADC's observer mission, said voting had been orderly but that the country needed to break its "cycle of elections."

Lesotho is a constitutional monarchy ruled by King Letsie III, who has no formal power, and it has a mixed parliamentary system.

Eighty lawmakers are voted in by constituents, while another 40 seats are distributed proportionally.

"Our country is poor and a lot of money has been spent holding these elections. I'm here to vote for a party to put us first -- not politics," said Naledi Metsing, as she voted outside the capital.

"We just voted two years ago and that government did not do much for the people."

Mosisili's DC party is forecast to join forces with the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) and the Popular Front for Democracy (PFD).

Thabane's ABC party and the Alliance Democrats (AD) of Monyane Moleleki, a former police minister, are also in talks to form a possible coalition government.

Reflecting frustration at the country's politics, voter turnout declined to 46 percent in 2015 from 66 percent in 2002.

The election result is expected next week.</s>Election officials in the mountain kingdom of Lesotho on Sunday investigated why armed soldiers had been deployed at many polling stations on voting day.

The army has often been accused of interfering in politics in Lesotho, a landlocked African country of two million people that has been hit by attempted coups and instability in recent years.

"The nation, the voters and even the observers were surprised... they felt that some voters were intimidated," Independent Electoral Commission spokesman Tuoe Hantsi told reporters.

"The law dictates who should be at the polling stations, and (the soldiers) caused confusion."

Saturday's election was seen as a two-horse race between old rivals Pakalitha Mosisili and Thomas Thabane, who have both served as prime minister.

Thabane fled an attempted military coup in 2014 when he was in power, and analysts say the army could favour Mosisili winning the vote.

The snap election was called when Prime Minister Mosisili, 72, lost a no-confidence vote in March after his seven-party coalition government broke up.

As vote counting began on Sunday, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional body expressed concern over the army's presence.

"We will be seeking an explanation from the army as to why the soldiers were placed at voting stations," said Augustine Mahiga, head of the SADC observer mission.

The results, due out this week, are expected to lead to a coalition government, with Thabane, 77, seen as the narrow favourite to emerge as the winner.

Thabane's All Basotho Congress party and the Alliance Democrats of Monyane Moleleki, a former police minister, have been in talks to form a possible government.

Mosisili's Democratic Congress party could join forces with the Lesotho Congress of Democracy and the Popular Front for Democracy.

Lesotho is a constitutional monarchy ruled by King Letsie III, who has no formal power, and it has a mixed parliamentary system.

Saturday's vote was the third general election since 2012 after years of political in-fighting and coalition collapses that have undermined attempts to tackle dire poverty and unemployment.

Lesotho has a 22.7 percent HIV-AIDS rate in adults and an economy dependent on South Africa, which surrounds it completely.</s>. . . accuses TRC and NUL of doing the opposition’s bidding ahead of elections

PRIME Minister Pakalitha Mosisili has launched a withering attack on the Transformation Resource Centre (TRC) and the National University of Lesotho (NUL), accusing both institutions of doing the opposition’s bidding ahead of Saturday’s National Assembly elections.

Dismissing the TRC as a “political party in another name” and NUL as an “improper academic institution led by politicians” the premier says the two bodies were openly delving in politics at the expense of their mandates.

Dr Mosisili, who leads the Democratic Congress (DC) party, said this in an interview with the Lesotho Times early this week on the sidelines of the joint DC and Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) rally in Ha Foso.

The rally was held to drum up support for the two parties ahead of Saturday’s National Assembly elections.

Basotho will go to the polls on Saturday for the third time in five years after the tenure of Dr Mosisili’s seven-party governing coalition prematurely ended due to a 1 March 2017 parliamentary no-confidence vote sponsored by four opposition parties.

Dr Mosisili spoke out for the first time over the bitter wrangle between the DC on one side and NUL, TRC and other civil society organisations ahead of the watershed polls.

The TRC and NUL have been organising debates for political parties in the run up to Saturday’s polls of which the DC was invited along with its governing counterpart LCD.

The NUL debate was held on 18 May 2017 in Maseru.

The opposition All Basotho Convention (ABC), Basotho National Party (BNP) and Alliance of Democrats (AD) had also been invited to debate on the themes of education, the economy and unemployment, rule of law in a democracy, service delivery and local governance as well as professionalism in the public service.

While the other parties sent their representatives to participate in the debate, NUL Vice-Chancellor Nqosa Mahao announced that the DC had rejected the invitation “for a number of reasons”, without elaborating.

Last Friday, the DC, LCD, ABC, AD, BNP, Reformed Congress of Lesotho (RCL) and Movement for Economic Change (MEC) were invited to participate in a debate at ’Manthabiseng National Convention Centre by the TRC.

All the parties, except the DC participated in the debate which delved on the themes of the economy and unemployment, as well as the rule of law in a democracy.

Asked last Friday why the DC had not attended the debate, TRC Programmes Director Tsikoane Peshoane blamed Prime Minister Mosisili’s Political and Economic Adviser, Fako Likoti, saying he influenced the DC to boycott the debate despite the TRC and the party having worked harmoniously in constituency forums.

Mr Peshoane said Dr Likoti had “persistently interfered” in the preparations for the event.

However, in responding to a question from this publication this week, Dr Mosisili laid into the TRC, describing it as “a political party in another name”, adding therefore his DC party would not be associated with its activities.

“Those debates are not in any way important to us,” Dr Mosisili said.

“Those are academic issues which are not important to us, particularly when they are organised by TRC. TRC is a political party in another name. What is important to us as the congress movement is the nation.

“Until the TRC becomes a non-governmental organisation and not a political party by another name, we shall not have anything to do with them.”

Dr Mosisili also dismissed NUL as an “improper academic institution led by politicians who masquerade in classrooms as educators”.

The premier said the DC would not attend any activities organised by NUL “until the university becomes a proper academic institution that is not led by politicians masquerading in classrooms as teachers”.

Dr Likoti, who is also a DC activist, last week confirmed in an interview with the Lesotho Times that the DC leadership shunned the NUL debate because the institution’s management was “actively fighting the government”.

Dr Likoti singled out Prof Mahao and Prof Mafa Sejanamane, saying it was “clear to everyone” that the two academics had nailed their colours to the opposition mast.

Meanwhile, Dr Likoti this week backed Dr Mosisili’s claims by penning a detailed response to the Lesotho Times, attacking the TRC as well as the Lesotho Nongovernmental Organisation (LCN) and the Development for Peace Education (DPE).

In the article, Dr Likoti says Lesotho like any pluralistic democracy “has endured a spectre of undemocratic nongovernmental organisations which strive to undermine our hard fought democracy”.

Dr Likoti argues that when Lesotho attained independence in 1966, there were very few NGOs, “but as time went on, their numbers progressively increased”.

“While this growth is impressive for a country that is 50 years old and for the health of our democracy, it would appear that, these important civil society institutions are becoming loose cannons engaging in an unpalatable agenda of undermining our democracy.”

Dr Likoti said the collective role of TRC, LCN and DPE was to influence the policy formation of the government of the day “not to subvert the government of the day and connive with some negative forces or even opposition parties to destabilise the government of the day”.

“The influence function of these interest groups is very important in any democracy. These groups also influence the direction of the state towards a better democratic end. They seek to influence government but not to be part of it. Put differently, to become a formal part of government or the opposition block of parties.”

According to Dr Likoti, since 2012 elections the three NGOs “have been fighting the congress parties by engaging in concerted strategies of de-campaigning them from power. These strategies came to the fore during the 2015 elections. There were serious allegations against these three NGOs to the effect that they were influencing the elections of the ABC and BNP”.

He said during the 2015 election campaigns, the trio employed supporters of these political parties (ABC and BNP) “who conducted house-to-house campaigns under the banner of these organisations”.

“There were various claims that they were recruiting voters on pretext that they were conducting voter education. During these so-called voter education, they were telling people to vote for nationalists and not congress parties.

“Several reports of these disturbing trends were received about these allegations where the LCN, TRC and DPE staffers were attempting to recruit or demonstrating to voters how to place a tick inside a box of either the ABC or BNP.”

Dr Likoti further accused the three NGOs of conniving with some chiefs to convene rallies where voters were persuaded to vote for these parties in the Mafeteng and Berea districts among others.

“They were always quick to embrace these parties openly and promoting their agenda at every occasion,” he said.

During the current election period, Dr Likoti claimed while trying to change tactics, the three NGOs “have been convening purported constituency debates where candidates of the congress movement were often ridiculed by opposition parties together with the staffer of these partisan organisations”.

“In fact, the purported debates have been a stage where DC members were harassed and ridiculed – the case of Mafeteng, Qalabane constituency being one example.

“All their debates have been geared towards boosting the opposition parties not proper and clean voter education. These are surely not the functions of NGOs which aim to influence public policy but those contrived to promote the opposition.”

Mr Peshoane told the Lesotho Times this week that the three NGOs will be working on a collective response to Dr Mosisili and Dr Likoti “soon after elections”.

For their part, Prof Mahao and Prof Mafa Sejanamane opted not to comment on the allegations.</s>Lesotho will hold elections on 3 June, the landlocked kingdom's second snap poll in three years as political instability deepens. Photo: AFP / Gianluigi Guercia

MASERU - Citizens of Lesotho are voting for a new prime minister.

 

 It's the third general election since 2012, thanks to political turmoil.

The kingdom's Parliament was dissolved earlier this year, after Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili lost a vote of no confidence.

The break-up of his multi-party coalition played a major role in the no confidence vote.

Experts say another coalition is likely to be formed once the votes are in.</s>SEMONKONG, Lesotho (AP) — People in mountainous Lesotho, some wrapped in blankets to ward off the morning cold, are voting in national elections amid concerns about chronic political instability in the southern African country.

Voters on Saturday lined up outside a polling station in a tent in the central town of Semonkong.

Elections were called after Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili, whose coalition took power in 2015, lost a no-confidence vote in parliament in March. Mosisili’s main rival is former ally and predecessor Tom Thabane, who fled to South Africa in 2014, saying soldiers planned to assassinate him as part of a coup attempt.

South Africa, whose territory surrounds Lesotho, has mediated among factions in the nation of two million people.</s>Voters in the small southern African kingdom of Lesotho go to polls Saturday in an election widely expected to lead to another fractious coalition government and the risk of deepening instability.

It is the third general election since 2012 in Lesotho, where years of political in-fighting have undermined attempts to tackle dire poverty and unemployment.

The snap election was announced in March when Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili lost a no-confidence vote after his seven-party coalition government broke up less than two years after it was formed.

The vote is seen as a two-horse race between old rivals Mosisili and Thomas Thabane, who ruled from 2012 to 2015, with the victor set to emerge from post-vote negotiations with coalition partners.

Thabane has drawn large crowds to his rallies and is seen as the narrow favourite.

Protests could break out if Mosisili is defeated and he refuses to concede power, "as his attitude and actions suggest he might," said Peter Fabricius of the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies.

In a research report, Fabricius said the SADC, the southern African regional body, had made it clear to Mosisili that "it will not tolerate any theft of the election."

In the capital of Maseru, Thabane's All Basotho Congress (ABC) and Mosisili's Democratic Congress (DC) party have competed for votes via giant billboards and posters.

"It is not likely that a single party will garner a majority of votes," political analyst Mafa Sejanamane, of the National University of Lesotho, told AFP.

"The urban vote is largely set to go to the ABC. The vote in rural areas is now likely to be shared between the DC and its splinter, the Alliance of Democrats."

The mountainous country suffers high unemployment and a 22.7 percent H.I.V.-AIDS rate in adults, with an economy dependent on South Africa, which surrounds it completely.

"The people in power have let us down, as we have seen with the last government and the one before it," Tefo Mohale, an unemployed 27-year-old, told AFP.

"The next government is going to follow suit, it is difficult to choose who to trust."

According to the electoral commission, 1.2 million people have registered to vote.

Thabane was forced to flee to South Africa in 2014 after an attempted coup by the army.

"It was the most undignified thing that happened to me, to wear (just) my pants... and go through the fence with my wife, running away from the state house," Thabane told AFP on the campaign trail.

At his final rally, Mosisili accused Thabane of escaping to seek foreign protection after "chowing through the public's money."

Critics accuse the army of meddling in politics and favouring Mosisili.

Lesotho is a constitutional monarchy ruled by King Letsie III, who has no formal power, and it has a mixed parliamentary system.

Eighty lawmakers are voted in by constituents, while another 40 seats are distributed proportionally.

Mosisili's DC party is forecast to join forces with the Lesotho Congress of Democracy (LCD) and the Popular Front for Democracy (PFD).

Thabane's ABC party and the Alliance Democrats (AD) of Monyane Moleleki, a former police minister, are also in talks to form a possible coalition government.

Reflecting frustration at the country's politics, voter turnout declined sharply to just 46 percent in 2015 from 66 percent in 2002.

Voting opens at 0500 GMT and closes at 1500 GMT, with counting expected to take several days.
Voters in Lesotho go to the polls for an election, with a tight race predicted between the Democratic Congress, led by current Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili, and the All Basotho Convention, led by former prime minister Tom Thabane.