Praetorianism and Political Transitions in Lesotho: A Critique of the Lesotho Military

Since its independence in 1966, Lesotho has been plagued by political instabilityPolitical instability, conversely impacting sustainable political transitions and democratic developmentDemocratic development. Lesotho’s protracted history of militarised politics, sporadic periods of civilian rule, and absence of strong institutions are hallmarks of a praetorian statePraetorian States. This chapter advances that praetorian statesPraetorian States are born out of militaries that are unique political actors who determine political outcomes or controls political decisions taken by civilian authorities asymmetrically. There is an emphasis on the self-assuming role of the military in controlling civilian authority as a critical variable. The country’s political independence in the 1960s significantly affected the state’s capacity to build strong institutions of democracyDemocracy and good governanceGood governance, resulting from an oppressive military-backed rule from 1966 to 1993 and after 2012. As this chapter demonstrates, these periods were marked by gravitation towards “illiberal democracyIlliberal democracy” through a military enclaveMilitary enclave—the merging between the military and civilian leadership—which stifled sustainable political transitions in Lesotho. This qualitative desktop study examines the Lesotho military’s divisive and often self-assuming role in stifling political transitions.