On this day 19 September 1961, the Basutoland National Council passed the following motion (No. 62):
That the High Commissioner be requested to invite Motlotlhi Moshoeshoe Il to appoint a Constitutional Commission after consultation with the leaders of political parties, which shall, without prejudice to the generality of his powers of appointment, include representatives of the Chieftainship and main political parties to review the working of the 1959 Constitution in the light of the experience gained.
Thereafter, early in 1962 the Basutoland Constitutional Commission appointed a thirteen-member Constitutional Commission. On 27 August 1962, Professor D.V. Cowen, formerly of the University of Cape Town, was appointed as the Adviser to the Commission and prepared the first draft. The Commission submitted its report on 3 October 1963.
It approved a Westminster-style constitution with a cabinet government headed by a Prime Minister. Parliament would be fashioned with a bicameral legislature consisting of 60 seats in the Lower House elected by universal adult suffrage, while the Senate would consist of the 22 principal and ward chiefs as well as eleven members nominated by the monarch. The King was to enjoy few powers, which included at least one significant residual power set out in Section 68(4)(c):
if the office of Prime Minister is vacant and the King considers that there is no prospect of his being able within a reasonable time to find a person who is the leader of the political party or a coalition of political parties that will command the support of a majority of the members of National Assembly, he may dissolve Parliament.
No vacuum was left, because Section 68(5) provided for simultaneous passage of a resolution of no confidence and naming of the next Prime Minister. However, the possibility of the King exercising real power was retained in an exigency arising out of a vacancy created in the office of the Prime Minister.
The Constitution was accepted by Britain, and it enjoyed widespread support. Election for the first government was held in 1965 and the country declared its independence in 1966.
