The incumbent Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili's newly formed Democratic Congress won a majority of single-member seats.

As a result of the impact of the Arab Spring in 2011, protests occurred against the government in regard to unemployment, poverty and low salaries.

[6] Before the election, the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy suffered a split because of Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili's refusal to cede power.

[8] Tom Thabane leads another faction that broke away in 2006, the All Basotho Convention, which is expected to benefit from the infighting of the other two parties.

[12] Former Malawian President Bakili Muluzi, who headed the Commonwealth of Nations' electoral observer team, said that despite a history of coup d'etats he was assured by the army and police that there would be no interference.

[9] Maliako Ralejoe of the Independent Electoral Commission said at the end of the day that: "Currently most of the urban areas have been counted, which is a good indicator.

"[16] This caused tension in Maseru and opposition parties led by ABC pressured the IEC to release the result.

The AU and SADC monitoring teams said of the election that "we are delighted that the voting and counting took place in an atmosphere of peace and tranquility.

Following this Lincoln Ralechate Mokose, the secretary general of DC, said the party would seek coalition partners and that "we will either succeed or fail.

ABC's secretary-general, Thabiso Litšiba, said it could be a week before the new parliament meets and officially chooses the new Prime Minister.

[20] Prior to the vote, Hoolo 'Nyane, the director of the Transformation Resource Centre, said that the lack of a governing coalition "would be a very disturbing scenario.

[A repeat of the 1998 stand-off and violence which led to the death of 58 locals and eight South African soldiers, as well as large damages in Maseru were] not completely unlikely.

"[24] On 29 May, the Lesotho Times reported that the LCD were likely to be "heavily compensated" by the proportionally allotted seats due to finishing second in many constituencies.