Chapter two: Country background and context included three coups d’état (in 1970, 1986 and 1994), and 23 years of undemocratic government (including seven years of military rule). The last 10 years of democratic restoration have seen the establishment of a virtual one-party state, with the opposition failing to make a significant impact on national institutions. The salient political epochs can be categorised in five distinct periods: embryonic democracy (1966–1970), de facto one-party rule (1970–1986), the era of military dictatorship (1986–1993), the epoch of fragile democracy (1993–2002), and the era of relatively stable democracy (2002–to date). Embryonic democracy: 1966–1970 55. Lesotho gained its political independence from Britain on 4 October 1966. This was the culmination of years of political agitation by various nationalist protest movements which evolved into modern political parties. Initially, the British colonial administration entertained the possibility of Lesotho becoming part of the 1910 Union of South Africa, but, upon resistance to this idea by the political elite, Lesotho (then Basutoland) was granted political independence. Self-government was preceded by the preindependence election of 1965. Contested by four political parties, namely the Basotho National Party (BNP), the Basutoland Congress Party (BCP), the Marematlou Freedom Party (MFP) and the Marematlou Party (MTP), this was the first multiparty election in the country and the first expression of democratic choice by the Basotho electorate. The election race was won by the BNP by a razor-thin margin of about 42 per cent of the total votes, which assured the party 31 out of a total of 60 parliamentary seats. Coming a close second to the BNP was the BCP with about 40 per cent of the votes, thereby securing 25 parliamentary seats. 56. Embryonic as it was then, Lesotho’s young democracy did not experience any major political turbulence and there were encouraging signs that a multiparty democratic dispensation was surely in the offing. This optimism was further reinforced by the positive developments of the first five years of independence, generally marked by legitimate and constitutional rule, political stability, the rule of law and political tolerance. However, the developments of 1970 would turn over a different page in Lesotho’s postcolonial history. De facto one-party rule: 1970–1986 57. The enormous optimism resulting from political independence and its immediate aftermath presented a golden opportunity for building firm foundations for democratic governance, but such optimism was shattered by the events surrounding the 1970 general election and its aftermath. As the results being announced showed the opposition heading for victory, Leabua Jonathan, the prime minister, seized power on 31 January 1970. The constitution was suspended and the king sent into exile. A de facto one-party state emerged. This autocratic rule was marked by conflict and instability, which further compromised the legitimacy of government and the credibility of the governance regime. 58. In 1986, BNP one-party rule was itself overthrown by the military, led by General Metsing Lekhanya, who, in turn, was displaced by junior officers within the army in 1990. The pork-barrel and repressive politics of the BNP regime was replaced by politics of the barrel of the gun, which further consolidated authoritarian rule between 1986 and 1993. 33