Easing fears, Lesotho’s PM resigns after election loss

JOHANNESBURG – Easing fears of instability, Lesotho’s government says the prime minister has resigned after losing elections in the small southern African nation beset by power struggles in recent years.

The government said in a statement officially stamped on Thursday that the ceremonial king has accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili.

The statement says Mosisili will remain in his post “until the induction of the new prime minister into office.”

His successor is expected to be rival Tom Thabane, a former prime minister who fled Lesotho in 2014 out of concern that soldiers planned to assassinate him.

Thabane’s All Basotho Convention party won 48 out of 120 parliamentary seats in the June 3 election. It is expected to form a governing coalition with smaller parties.