(Bloomberg) -- Lesotho's monarch, King Letsie III, dissolved the kingdom's parliament and called for elections, according to Deputy Prime Minister Mothejoa Metsing who commented on state-owned Radio Lesotho.
The king will announce the date for elections within 4 days, Metsing said.
Opposition parties won a motion of no confidence in the government on March 1, forcing Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili to either advise the king to dissolve parliament and call for elections, or resign and allow lawmakers to choose a replacement.
Mosisili came to power in March 2015, after cobbling together an alliance of seven parties that won 65 seats in the 120-seat Parliament. The coalition was dogged by infighting and the resignation of several cabinet ministers.
Mosisili's predecessor, Motsoahae Thabane, the leader of the All Basotho Convention, exploited the divisions and announced in November last year that he had struck a deal with other opposition parties to topple the government.
Lesotho has a population of about 1.9 million and a $1.8 billion economy, International Monetary Fund data show. The kingdom, which supplies water and labor to neighboring South Africa and exports textiles and mohair, has a history of political instability and coup attempts.
To contact the reporter on this story: Gordon Bell in Johannesburg at gbell16@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alastair Reed at areed12@bloomberg.net, Hilton Shone
With assistance from Mathabiso Ralengau
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