The Basotho National Party is a political party in Lesotho, founded in the 1959 as the

Basutoland National Party by Leabua Jonathan. He was Prime Minister from 1965 until the coup
of 1986.
In the 1993 general election, the BNP received almost 23% of the vote but did not win any seats
in the National Assembly, with all 65 seats going to the party's rival, the Basotho Congress
Party (BCP). It suffered a similar defeat in the May 1998 parliamentary election, in which it won
24.5% of the vote but only one seat in the National Assembly. Due to its lack of success in
winning constituencies, the party sought the introduction of proportional representation in
deciding the allocation of seats; as a compromise, a mixed system providing for 40
compensatory seats that would be decided through proportional representation (in addition to the
80 constituency seats) was introduced.[1]
Justin Lekhanya, the leader of the 1986 coup, was elected as Party Leader of the BNP at its
Conference in March 1999.[2] In the election for the National Assembly held on 25 May 2002, the
party won 21 compensatory seats through proportional representation[1] with 22.4% of the vote.
Since then, the party has been rocked by internal squabbles which have seen it fail to provide an
effective opposition within the Lesotho parliament. In the 17 February 2007 parliamentary
election, the party won only 3 out of 120 seats. Its headquarters is in Maseru, The capital city.