Crucial political reforms have just failed, meaning the 7 October election goes ahead under the system that produced so much instability, Polling in the general election will open on 7 October without the expected constitutional reforms designed to rid the country of its notorious political instability, disappointing many in Maseru and throughout the region. Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro s latest effort to force through the political, security and electoral reforms demanded for 10 years by reformers, and above all by the country s all-powerful neighbour, South Africa, and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), were struck down by the Court of Appeal on 19 September.