Editing Basutoland (section)

===Independence===

In 1964 a constitutional conference in London resulted in the enactment of a new constitution which gave the country full self government with the Paramount Chief at its head assisted by a bicameral Parliament. The British Resident Commissioner was left only with the responsibilities of external affairs, defense and internal security. It was also decided that one year after elections were held under the new constitution the new Parliament could request independence.<ref name="Spence 1966 435–446"/> In the 1965 elections the conservative and pro South African [[Basutoland National Party]], under chief [[Leabua Jonathan|Leabua Jonathon]], won a narrow majority, with 31 seats out of the 60 seats in the [[National Assembly (Lesotho)|National Assembly]]. Independence came as promised a year later in 1966, despite opposition from both the Paramount Chief who resented the reductions in his power as established by the 1964 Constitution and the opposition, who feared that Jonathon's pro South African stance would result in the country becoming a vassal to the Apartheid regime.<ref name="Spence 1966 435–446"/> The challenge the country faced at independence was that it was underdeveloped and completely economically dependent on neighboring South Africa. This was mostly due to a lack of interest from Britain in developing the territory. This fact was acknowledged by the last British Commissioner, Sir Alexander Giles who wrote:<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Aerni-Flessner |first=John |date=2014 |title=Development, Politics, and the Centralization of State Power in Lesotho, 1960-75 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43305214?searchText=&searchUri=/action/doBasicSearch?Query=basutoland&so=rel&ab_segments=0/basic_search_gsv2/control&searchKey=&refreqid=fastly-default:7c668ae0e82dc26c60b810a15842b446&initiator=recommender&seq=2 |journal=The Journal of African History |volume=55 |issue=3 |pages=401–421 |issn=0021-8537}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|text=Britain's neglect over the past century has led to Basutoland's complete dependence on the Republic of South Africa, and that by granting independence with insufficient aid Britain is in fact 'selling out' the territory to the Republic. Impecunious independence will not be independence at all, and for this Britain must bear the responsibility|source=}}