“Early elections hold the key to finding a solution to the political, and indeed security, challenges the country faces,” South Africa’s Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, who mediated the peace talks between Lesotho’s warring sides, said on Thursday.

Ramaphosa also strongly called on Lesotho’s army and security forces to stay out of politics in a bid to bring peace and stability back to the country.

"We call upon the leadership of the security arms of this country, in the forms of the police and the army, to do everything they can in the interests of the people of Lesotho and desist from having conflicts between themselves," he added.

Since its independence from Britain in 1966, Lesotho has been grappling with instability as different parties, military forces and the royal family try to gain the upper hand in the kingdom.

The country’s political crisis reached its culmination on August 30, when an attempted military coup forced Prime Minister Thomas Thabane to leave Lesotho and flee to neighboring South Africa.

The attempted coup failed and the 75-year-old premier returned to his country under the full protection of South African armed forces.