 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
57 of the 63 seats in the National Assembly 29 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turnout | 76.71% ( 0.92pp) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Results by constituency | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|---|
| Constitution |
 Portal |
General elections were held in Botswana on 16 October 2009, alongside local elections, with early voting in 26 polling stations abroad taking place 3 October. [1] The result was a tenth successive victory for the Botswana Democratic Party, which won 45 of the 57 elected seats in the National Assembly.
The 57 directly-elected members of the National Assembly were elected in single-member constituencies. A further four members were elected from a list nominated by the President, whilst the President and Attorney General became ex officio members. [2]
The ruling BDP was suffering from internal problems leading up to the election, with President Ian Khama threatening to expel party leader and former cabinet minister Daniel Kwelagobe, who also led the rival Barata-Phathi faction within the BDP. Although Khama and Kwelagobe eventually reconciled, stability within the BDP remained in question. [3] The BDP campaign focused on its record in government, including education, training and economic development. [4]
Botswana National Front leader Otsweletse Moupo did not contest the elections after losing the party's primary elections for his Gaborone West North seat. It was speculated that he would stand for election in Gaborone South, but Moupo ultimately declined to run. The BNF campaign centred around creating a strong civil society and improving social welfare and housing. [4]
The Botswana Congress Party (BCP) and the Botswana Alliance Movement (BAM) formed an electoral alliance and supported each other's candidates. BCP leader Gilson Saleshando stood for election in Selebi-Phikwe West, a constituency held prior to the election by BDP candidate Kavis Kario. The alliance's campaign included a pledge to stop the economic downturn. [4]
The Botswana People's Party (BPP) campaign focused on agricultural development and manufacturing, whilst the MELS Movement of Botswana (MELS) promised to fight the exploitation of the population. [4]
A total of 177 candidates contested the elections; 57 from the BDP, 48 from the BNF, 46 from the BCP-BAM alliance (42 from the BCP and 4 from the BAM), 6 from the BPP, 4 from MELS, one from the Botswana Tlhoko Tiro Organisation and 15 independents. [5]
Very few scientific opinion polls were taken prior to the election, preventing accurate measures of public sentiment.
| Date | Institute | BDP | BNF | BCP | Other/none |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 Sept – 16 Oct 2008 | University of Botswana Faculty / Afrobarometer | 63% | 13% | 8% | 10% |
Early voting was planned for police and polling officers on 29 September, as they would be unable to vote on election day. However, because of a printing error at the Johannesburg-based printer that was responsible for printing the ballot papers, early voting could not proceed as planned; ballot numbers, which should be unique to counter election fraud, were sometimes repeated on the ballots for local elections. As a result Police officers and polling officers had to vote on 16 October, along with the general public. For officers stationed far away from the place they are registered to vote, this presented serious problems. [6] The BCP threatened legal action against the Independent Electoral Commission. [1]
Election turnout was reported to be high with polling station opening times being extending to cope with large queues. [7] Election observers stated that the overall process ran smoothly, although in some instance people had been unable to vote. [7] The Southern African Development Community noted that the elections were "credible, peaceful, free and fair", but raised concerns about the "slow polling process". [4]
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Botswana Democratic Party | 290,099 | 53.26 | 45 | +1 | |
| Botswana National Front | 119,509 | 21.94 | 6 | –6 | |
| Botswana Congress Party | 104,302 | 19.15 | 4 | +3 | |
| Botswana Alliance Movement | 12,387 | 2.27 | 1 | +1 | |
| Botswana People's Party | 7,554 | 1.39 | 0 | 0 | |
| MELS Movement of Botswana | 292 | 0.05 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tlhoko Tiro Organisation | 40 | 0.01 | 0 | New | |
| Independents | 10,464 | 1.92 | 1 | +1 | |
| Indirectly-elected seats | 6 | 0 | |||
| Total | 544,647 | 100.00 | 63 | 0 | |
| Valid votes | 544,647 | 98.12 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 10,431 | 1.88 | |||
| Total votes | 555,078 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 723,617 | 76.71 | |||
| Source: EISA | |||||
Nehemiah Modubule, MP for Lobatse, won re-election running as an independent, having been elected in 2004 as a BNF candidate.
The BDP held a victory rally in Gaborone on 18 October, and [8] President Khama was sworn in for his first full term on 20 October. [4]
Botswana is a parliamentary republic in which the President of Botswana is both head of state and head of government. The nation's politics are based heavily on British parliamentary politics and on traditional Batswana chiefdom. The legislature is made up of the unicameral National Assembly and the advisory body of tribal chiefs, the Ntlo ya Dikgosi. The National Assembly chooses the president, but once in office the president has significant authority over the legislature with only limited separation of powers.
The President of the Republic of Botswana is the head of state and the head of government of Botswana, as well as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, according to the Constitution of Botswana. Sir Seretse Khama was the prime minister from 1965 to 1966, however he later became president of Botswana, and as of 2024 there have been no prime ministers since.
The Botswana Democratic Party is a political party in Botswana. It was the ruling party of Botswana for 58 years, from independence in 1966 until the 2024 general election. Its chairman is Slumber Tsogwane and its symbol is a lift jack. The BDP is sometimes classified as a paternalistic conservative party, but it is also a consultative member of the Socialist International, a worldwide alliance of social-democratic parties. The BDP was shaped primarily by two of its founders, Seretse Khama and Quett Ketumile Masire. Traditional Setswana communities make up the party's base, which has led the BDP to remain a conservative movement.
The Botswana National Front (BNF) is a social democratic political party in Botswana. It was the main opposition party in Botswana from the 1969 elections until the 2024 elections.
General elections were held in Botswana on 30 October 2004, alongside local elections. The result was a ninth consecutive victory for the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), which won 44 of the 57 seats in the National Assembly.
The Botswana Congress Party (BCP) is a social democratic political party in Botswana. Founded in 1998 as a result of a split from the Botswana National Front (BNF), the party attracted most of the BNF's sitting MPs due to a leadership dispute involving the BNF's leader, Kenneth Koma.
The MELS Movement of Botswana was an anti-revisionist Marxist-Leninist communist party in Botswana without parliamentary representation. Themba Joina, a practicing lawyer, was the president of the organization. The name MELS is derived from (Karl) Marx, (Friedrich) Engels, (Vladimir) Lenin and (Joseph) Stalin.
General elections were held in Botswana on 16 October 1999, alongside local elections. The result was an eighth straight victory for the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), which increased its majority to 33 of the 40 elected seats in the National Assembly.
General elections were held in Botswana on 15 October 1994, alongside simultaneous local elections. The result was a victory for the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), which had won every election since 1965. However, the elections also saw a strong performance from the Botswana National Front (BNF), which tripled its number of MPs and won all four seats in the capital Gaborone.
Mompati Sebogodi Merafhe was a Botswana politician who was Vice-President of Botswana from 2008 to 2012. He was a retired Lieutenant-General and served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1994 to 2008.
Seretse Khama Ian Khama is a Botswana politician and former military officer who was the fourth President of the Republic of Botswana from 1 April 2008 to 1 April 2018. After serving as Commander of the Botswana Defence Force, he entered politics and was Vice-President of Botswana from 1998 to 2008, then succeeded Festus Mogae as President on 1 April 2008. He won a full term in the 2009 election and was re-elected in October 2014.
Margaret Nnananyana Nasha is a Botswana politician who served as the Speaker of the National Assembly from 2009 to 2014. She was the first woman to hold the position.
The Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) is a political party in Botswana, founded in 2010 by MPs and other politicians who parted ways with the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) due to differences with Ian Khama, the leader of the BDP and the President of Botswana at the time.
General and local elections were held in Botswana on 24 October 2014. The result was an eleventh straight victory for the Botswana Democratic Party, which won 37 of the 57 elected seats. Incumbent President Ian Khama was sworn in for a second term on 28 October.
The Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) is a centre-left to left-wing alliance of political parties in Botswana. Since the 2024 Botswana general election, the UDC has been the governing alliance of political parties.
Gladys Keitumetse Theresa Kokorwe is a Botswana politician who was the Speaker of the National Assembly from 2014 to 2019. She is a member of the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP).
General elections were held in Botswana on 23 October 2019 to elect MPs and local government councillors. Despite a high profile split in the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) in May 2019 when former President Ian Khama left the party and switched his support to the new Botswana Patriotic Front, the BDP's vote share increased to almost 53% as the party won 38 of the 57 elected seats in the National Assembly, a gain of one compared to the 2014 elections. The elections were the twelfth and the last straight victory for the BDP.
General elections were held in Botswana on 30 October 2024 to determine the composition of the 13th Parliament of Botswana as well as local councils across the country. Up for election were 61 seats of the National Assembly as well as 609 local council seats, all elected through the first-past-the-post voting system.
A by-election for the Botswana parliamentary constituency of Serowe West was held on 8 July 2023. The vacancy was caused by the expulsion on 21 April 2023 of the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP), Tshekedi Khama of the BPF, following his absence from the minimum required two consecutive meetings of the same session to trigger a by-election per the Standing Orders of the National Assembly.
Ndaba Nkosinathi Gaolathe is a Motswana economist and politician, currently serving as Vice-President of Botswana since 7 November 2024, under President Duma Boko. Gaolathe is the leader of the Alliance for Progressives, one of the parties within the ruling coalition Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC). He is also an elected member of the National Assembly of Botswana for the Gaborone Bonnington South constituency since the 2024 elections, a position he previously held from 2014 to 2019.
