The Southern African Development Community (SADC), the 14-member regional bloc, would send a delegation to Lesotho next week to mediate in the stand-off between the country's ruling and opposition parties following the February elections.

Tom Thabane, leader of the opposition All Basotho Convention (ABC), said on Tuesday his party welcomed the SADC efforts to help resolve the political disputes, according to media reports in South Africa and Lesotho.

"We welcome the decision of SADC to send a high-level delegation here," Thabane told a press conference in Maseru, capital of Lesotho, the South African Press Association (SAPA) reported.

He and leaders of other four opposition parties promised to fully cooperate with the delegation to assess the situation, a decision made at last week's extraordinary summit of the SADC heads of state in Tanzania.

The Lesotho Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili, who chairs the SADC, on Monday announced the delegation would visit Lesotho after the Easter break. But no date has been announced.

Mosisili's Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) beat the ABC and other oppositions to win the February 17 elections, the fifth since the African mountain kingdom, entirely surrounded by South Africa, gained independence from Britain in 1966.

But the opposition parties later complained about the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC)'s allocation of proportional representation seats in Parliament.

"It is our firm belief that the allocation was not done fairly and justly as some opposition parties did not get the number of seats they deserve," Thabane was quoted as saying by the SAPA.

"We want to prove to SADC that there is collusion between the IEC and the ruling party over the allocation of these seats. We want this matter to be resolved for the sake of peace and stability of this country," he said.

The 1998 elections, won by the LCD, was marred by riots and killings after opposition parties protested the outcomes and led to a brief military occupation by South Africa and Botswana.

The ABC's call for a three-day stay-away in protest of the government two weeks ago was widely supported. Thabane on Tuesday appealed to government not to victimize its employees who did not show up for work during the strike, the Lesotho News Agency (LENA) reported.

He reaffirmed the opposition's commitment to a peaceful settlement of the current political standoff with government, LENA said.

Source: Xinhua