Botswana general election, 1999

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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.

Botswana republic in southern Africa

Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966. Since then, they maintain a tradition of stable representative republic, with a consistent record of uninterrupted democratic elections and the best perceived corruption ranking in Africa since at least 1998. It is currently Africa's oldest continuous democracy.

Botswana Democratic Party political party

The Botswana Democratic Party is the governing party in Botswana. Its chairman is the current Vice-President of the Republic of Botswana, Slumber Tsogwane. The previous party chairs include, among others, Mokgweetsi Masisi, Ponatshego Kedikilwe, Daniel Kwelagobe, Samson Guma Moyo, and Lieutenant General Ian Khama.

Contents

Background

A referendum on electoral reform in 1997 had led to the creation of a new Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), the lowering of the voting age from 21 to 18, and allowing overseas citizens to vote. [1]

Prior to the election, the National Assembly was dissolved in late July 1999. [2] Because fewer than half of the roughly 800,000 eligible voters had registered, it was decided in late July to introduce supplementary voter registration. [3] On 27 August it was reported that President Festus Mogae had set the election date for 16 October. [4] However, announcing the date invalidated the supplementary voter registration [3] because the names of the recently registered voters had not yet been published for inspection. [5] As a result, Mogae declared a state of emergency so that the National Assembly could meet again to amend legislation in order to allow the addition of about 60,000 people to the voters roll; this was the first time a state of emergency had been declared since Botswana became independent. A spokesman for the Botswana Electoral Commission described the situation as "very normal" and said that the election date would not be changed. The opposition Botswana Alliance Movement (BAM) and Botswana Congress Party (BCP) were critical, however, with the former's Lepetu Setshwaelo describing it as "the biggest scandal since our independence" and calling the government "totally incompetent". The BCP said that the state of emergency was unnecessary. [3]

Festus Mogae President of Botswana

Festus Gontebanye Mogae is a Motswana politician who served as the third President of Botswana from 1998 to 2008. He succeeded Quett Masire as President in 1998 and was re-elected in October 2004; after ten years in office, he stepped down in 2008 and was succeeded by Lieutenant General Ian Khama.

The Botswana Alliance Movement (BAM) is a progressive political party in Botswana, led by Ephraim Lepetu Setshwaelo. Prior to the 2009 election the party entered into an electoral pact with the Botswana Congress Party. In the 2009 elections the party won a seat in the National Assembly of Botswana for the first time.

Botswana Congress Party

The Botswana Congress Party (BCP) is a social-democratic political party in Botswana. The BCP was founded in 1998 in a split from the Botswana National Front, with most of the BNF's sitting Members of Parliament joining the new party after a leadership dispute with Kenneth Koma. MPs who helped found the party included Michael Dingake, Gilson Saleshando, Paul Rantao, Maitshwarelo Dabutha, Isaac Mabiletsa and Vain Mamela. The BCP's first national conference was held in April 1999, before the general election in October 1999.

Campaign

The main opposition party, the Botswana National Front (BNF) split in mid-1998 after party leader Kenneth Koma was suspended by the party's central committee, and then had the suspension overturned by a court ruling. After Koma returned to the party leadership, he formed a caretaker committee to remove the members who had opposed him. The excluded members subsequently left to form the BCP, which included 11 of the BNF's 13 MPs and most of its local councillors. [6] As a result, BCP leader Michael Dingake replaced Koma as Leader of the Opposition. [6]

The Botswana National Front has been the main opposition party in Botswana since the 1969 elections. It achieved its greatest electoral success in the 1994 elections, when it won 37.1% of the vote and 13 of 40 parliamentary seats. A factional conflict in 1998 led to the departure of 11 of these MPs, who then founded the Botswana Congress Party (BCP). In the 1999 elections, the BNF's vote share declined to 26% and it won 6 parliamentary seats. In the 2004 general election the party won 26.1% of the popular vote and 12 out of 57 seats. Its representation was sharply reduced in the 2009 elections, with the party reduced to only six seats in the National Assembly of Botswana. The BNF's parliamentary representation fell to 5 seats following the defection of the party's former Vice President, Olebile Gaborone, to the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) in July 2010.

Michael Kitso Dingake is a Botswana political activist and writer.

Following talks that began in late 1998, the BNF, the United Action Party and five other opposition parties agreed to form the BAM in January 1999. However, the BNF had left the alliance by the end of April 1999 after the other parties refused to allow the BNF to determine the Alliance's candidates in every constituency. [6]

The election campaign was low-key, and focussed on poverty, unemployment, wealth distribution and the country's AIDS epidemic. The BDP campaigned on a promise of prudent financial management, industrial diversification and efforts to combat the AIDS problem. The BNF criticised the government's economic policy, claiming it was too focussed on urban areas. The BCP claimed the government was too complacent, having been in power since the mid-1960s. [7]

Results

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Botswana Democratic Party 192,59857.1533+6
Botswana National Front 87,45725.956–7
Botswana Congress Party 40,09611.901+1
Botswana Alliance Movement 15,8054.690New
MELS Movement of Botswana 220.010New
Independents 1,0040.300New
Indirectly-elected seats––4–
Invalid/blank votes17,483–––
Total354,466100440
Registered voters/turnout459,66277.11––
Source: African Elections Database

Aftermath

Following the elections, the National Assembly re-elected Mogae as President on 20 October. [7]

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References

  1. ↑ Elections in Botswana African Elections Database
  2. ↑ BOTSWANA: Parliament dissolved ahead of elections IRIN, 26 July 1999
  3. 1 2 3 BOTSWANA: State of emergency defended IRIN, 6 September 1999
  4. ↑ BOTSWANA: Election date set for 16 October IRIN, 27 August 1999
  5. ↑ BOTSWANA: State of emergency to be lifted IRIN, 7 September 2008
  6. 1 2 3 Botswana: The October 1999 General Election EISA
  7. 1 2 Elections held in 1999 IPU
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