Thousands of voters in Lesotho are casting their ballots this Friday in the southern African kingdom's general elections.
The election will go ahead despite a deadlock in parliament on a whole gamut of major constitutional reforms that were meant to be enacted ahead of the vote so as to bring order to Lesotho's fractious politics.
It is a tight race between the top three parties out of a field of more than 60 registered political parties.
Outgoing Deputy Prime Minister Mathibeli Mokhothu of the Democratic Congress party is running against his coalition partner Nkaku Kabi of the All Basotho Convention and businessman-turned-politician Sam Matekane of the Revolution for Prosperity.
Friday has been declared a public holiday to encourage voting in the tiny mountainous kingdom of 2.1 million people.
The country is entirely surrounded by South Africa.
Coalition on the cards
Lesotho's King Letsie III presides over a constitutional monarchy but has virtually no political power.
Whichever party wins enough representatives in Lesotho's 120-seat National Assembly will select a new prime minister to form a government.
With so many parties contesting the polls, a coalition is very likely.
Polling stations opened at 7am Friday morning, with many voters saying they hoped the election of new leaders would bring change to the country as it faces high levels of employment, increasing crime and political instability.
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Country in post-Covid crisis
Many people reportedly lost jobs at factories during the Covid-19 pandemic and some have turned to crime and prostitution to make a living.
According to official statistics, the garment-making industry is Lesotho's largest employer - after the government - and had more than 45,500 textile workers at the beginning of 2020 but about 25 percent of those jobs were lost during the pandemic.
About 320,000 people in Lesotho are currently experiencing a severe food "crisis" and are in urgent need of aid "to save lives, reduce food gaps, protect and restore livelihoods and prevent acute malnutrition," according to the Integrated Food Insecurity Phase Classification.
Election observers from the European Union, the Commonwealth, the African Union and the Southern African Development Community are in Lesotho to assess the electoral process.
