A group of politicians and senior officials from Lesotho visited New Zealand in July to study the country’s voting system.
The delegation, which included Deputy Prime Minister Mothetjoa Metsing, wanted to gain a greater understanding of New Zealand’s mixed member proportional representation parliamentary system. The structure sees voters get both an electorate vote and a party vote – the former selects a local MP while the latter decides the number of seats allocated to each party.
The trip was organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat and the New Zealand parliament, with the United Nations Development Program in Lesotho supporting the participation of some delegates.
Speaking at the outset of the visit, Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma said: “The Commonwealth is promoting the development of effective government and public administration under a mixed member proportional electoral system in Lesotho.
“New Zealand adopted the MMP electoral system 20 years ago, and so the purpose of the study tour is to learn from the New Zealand experience, and to assist a cross-section of Lesotho’s parliamentarians and civil servants to build their knowledge and ability to work together for the good of the citizens of their country.”
