The National Assembly of Botswana Palamente ya Botswana | |
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12th Parliament | |
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Type | |
Type | |
Term limits | None |
History | |
Founded | 1966 |
New session started | November 5, 2019 |
Leadership | |
Phandu Skelemani,ex-officio [1] | |
Deputy Speaker | |
Mokgweetsi Masisi,ex-officio | |
Leader of the House | Slumber Tsogwane,BDP [3] |
Government Whip | Liakat Kablay,BDP [4] |
Opposition whip | Motsamai Motsamai,UDC [4] |
Structure | |
Seats | 65 |
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Political groups | Government (45)
Other opposition (12)
Vacant (1)
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Length of term | 5 years |
Elections | |
First-past-the-post | |
First election | 1 March 1965 |
Last election | 23 October 2019 |
Next election | By October 2024 |
Meeting place | |
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National Assembly Chamber Gaborone South-East District | |
Website | |
www |
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Constitution |
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The National Assembly is the sole legislative body of Botswana's unicameral Parliament, of which consists of the President and the National Assembly. [12] The House passes laws, provides ministers to form Cabinet, and supervises the work of government. It is also responsible for adopting the country's budgets. It is advised by the Ntlo ya Dikgosi, a council of tribal chiefs which is not a house of Parliament. [13]
Though there were legislative predecessors to the National Assembly during colonial rule, it was not until independence in 1966 that the National Assembly of Botswana officially formed. [14] [15] Since then, there have been consistent multi-party elections and 5 peaceful presidential transitions. [16] [15]
Currently, there are 65 total members of the National Assembly. [17] Voters in single member constituencies directly elect 57 of these members for a term of 5 years through a plurality (or first-past-the-post) system. Six members, meanwhile, are nominated by the President and elected by the assembly. Finally, the remaining two (the President and Speaker of the National Assembly) are ex officio . [18] [19]
Despite the presence of consistent elections, the National Assembly has not escaped criticism. In every election since the founding elections in 1965, the Botswana Democratic Party has won a majority of seats in the legislative body. As a result, an inter-party power transition has not occurred. [20] [21] Additionally, political science scholars have sometimes expressed concern about the National Assembly because of its few women MPs and its interconnectedness with the executive. [22] [23]
The National Assembly of Botswana is part of the legislative branch of Botswana's National Government and thus has the primary role of debating and passing bills. [12] [23] Always constituting the National Assembly are 57 members elected by voters from single-member constituencies. Along with these elected members are also six members nominated by the President and specially elected to their positions by the National Assembly. Finally, there are also up to two ex-officio members - one of which is always the President. [18] Originally, the purpose of the specially elected members was to create representation in the National Assembly for minority groups of the country. Later, the MPs would typically reserve these spots for people with sought-after skills. More recently, however, the specially elected seats have primarily served as a way for the majority party to increase its number of seats in the assembly. [22]
Among the members of the National Assembly are also a Speaker, a Deputy Speaker, and a Leader of the Opposition. [23] Though the Speaker is often a member of the National Assembly, the MPs do not have to fill this role with another MP. As a result, when the MPs elect a speaker from outside the governing body, the Speaker becomes the 65th member of the National Assembly. If desired, two-thirds of the members can vote to remove the Speaker. [18] Furthermore, along with being members of the National Assembly, some MPs are also part of the President's Cabinet. At any given moment, there are 26 Cabinet ministers in the National Assembly - 8 of whom are assistant ministers. [23] In other words, 42% of the National Assembly is also part of the President's Cabinet. [12]
In general, the main purpose of the National Assembly is to debate and pass bills. Typically, the President introduces bills and members of the Cabinet have the ability to examine them first. Despite this, however, there are a few bills that successfully enter the National Assembly through different pathways. [23] Then, after reaching the National Assembly, a bill must gain a simple majority to pass onwards to the President. Finally, once the President assents to the bill, it passes into a law. [18] Nevertheless, for a bill to become a legitimate law, it cannot contradict the Constitution of Botswana. If a law does go against the Constitution, the judiciary has the right to declare the legislation invalid. [23]
Along with passing bills, the National Assembly also has the power to elect the President. This election does not occur through a vote, but instead by whether or not a party holds a majority in the National Assembly. [20] Since the Parliament of Botswana is a combination of both the National Assembly and the President, the election of the President forms the Parliament. [12] Then, unlike in many parliamentary systems, the President will act as both the Head of State and the Head of Government. [12] Within this role, the President has the power to present legislation, speak, and vote. [18] Additionally, they also have the power to summon, prorogue and dissolve the National Assembly. [23]
Under the circumstance that the President declares a state of public emergency, the National Assembly also gains another purpose. In this scenario, the President acquires the power to independently create broad regulations that are necessary to quell the emergency. However, due to the Emergency Powers Act that was passed in 1966, in this circumstance the National Assembly has the power to act as a check and must approve the President's emergency regulations. [24]
Often, in Botswana, chiefs govern locally by convening community meetings called “Kgotlas." Some scholars, like political scientist John Holm, point to such meetings as examples of how Tswana culture embodies themes of public discourse and debate. Evidently, these values exemplify popular notions of democratic principles. [25]
Within this cultural context, chiefs maintained local governance throughout colonial rule. [25] During the colonial era, the British ruled over the area of modern-day Botswana according to their policy of indirect rule. Called the Bechuanaland Protectorate at the time, the area experienced little colonial intervention relative to other areas within the region. In part, this was because Bechuanaland was not a settler colony. Furthermore, this was also due to the fact that the area avoided annexation into neighboring white supremacist South Africa. [15] [14] Eventually, however, colonial intervention became more centralized in 1919 when the British authorities established a Native Advisory Council at the regional level. Soon after in 1920, a European Advisory Council followed. Then, for the next 36 years, these councils acted separately until the formation of a Joint Advisory Council. This council did not have the power to pass legislation, but could debate and comment on existing legislation. [14] However, it is important to note that British colonial authorities often constructed these councils on a foundation of exploitative interests. As a result, they often upheld and enforced colonial economic extraction. [26]
In 1959, the resident commissioner of Botswana, Peter Fawcus, worked alongside prominent Batswana figures such as Seretse Khama to create a new Legislative Council. [27] [14] This council had the power to pass laws and would play an integral role in the transition to independence. Composing this council were ten government officials, ten Africans, ten Europeans, and one Asian resident of Botswana. Most of the members representing the Africans and Europeans came from newly established African and European Councils. [14] Legislative Councils (LegCos) like this one were not isolated to Botswana and were instead common in late British colonial rule. Ken Opalo, an expert of legislative politics, notes that colonial officials frequently dominated LegCos during their existence. Consequently, LegCos often worked to progress the desires of the colonial authority. During the transition to independence, this involved empowering executives and limiting legislative rule itself. In many other postcolonial states, this contributed to decades of autocracy. [26]
Eventually, as British colonial rule began to wane, Seretse Khama met with the African members of the council in 1962 to form the Bechuanaland Democratic Party (BDP). [14] [28] Then, soon after this event, a group composed of chiefs, white residents, and members of Botswana’s newly established political parties convened to draft the future Constitution of Botswana. [14] In this Constitution were the outlines for the National Assembly. [18] Then, in March of 1965, the first elections occurred with three political parties taking part in the campaign. [15] The BDP won 81 percent of vote and 28 out of 31 available seats in the assembly. [14] It was soon after these elections that the country officially secured independence in 1966. [15]
Though many African countries experienced decades of single-party rule until the 1990s, Botswana has had 5 peaceful presidential transitions and consistent multi-party democracy since independence. [29] [15] The Botswana Democratic Party - formerly Bechuanaland Democratic Party - has always won a majority of seats in the National Assembly and is an ongoing symbol of the national liberation movement. [15] [17] [28]
Meanwhile, unlike the BDP, the opposition parties in the National Assembly have routinely changed since independence. During the 1990s, urbanization and the sudden prominence of the mining sector weakened the BDP’s agriculturally centered political base. Because of this perceived fragility, some of the opposition parties were able to merge into the Botswana National Front (BNF) and almost created a unified opposition party to counter the BDP. In the late 1990s, however, the BNF fractured and did not come close to rivaling the BDP again. [20]
Yet, despite the inconsistency of the opposition, BDP’s dominance has routinely created concern among members of opposition parties about whether the National Assembly can act as a proper check against the President. In particular, many see a problem with lack of separation between the National Assembly and the executive in the formation of Parliament. [23] [24] In addition to this concern, political science scholars such as David Sebudubudu note that the President holds direct influence over MPs because 42% of the National Assembly is also in the President’s Cabinet. In a critique of the National Assembly, Sebudubudu and his colleagues explain that loyalty and personal ambitions may impede the ability for BDP party members to be free-acting in the assembly. [23] Stemming from this general concern, in 1988 the National Assembly passed a motion urging the separation of Parliament, and thus the National Assembly, from the office of the President. [23] Then, in 2002, speaker Ray Molomo echoed this motion when he asked a special team to look into forming a National Assembly independent of the executive. [12] More recently during the 2010s, concern over the executive's power led an opposition party - Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) - to accuse BDP of autocracy. [16]
Along with this concern about BDP’s dominance is also anxiety about the few women MPs in the National Assembly. After the 2009 national elections when only two women were directly elected to the assembly, some political scientists like Gretchen Bauer expressed worry over how the representation of women was not increasing over time. Although women candidates are usually competitive in elections, it is often difficult for them to advance past the primary stage for political parties. [22] Additionally, along this vein of representation, scholars like research fellow James Kirby have also expressed that there is little space for minority ethnic groups like the Basarwa to express their opinions within the National Assembly. [30]
After the 2019 general elections, the concern over the few women MPs resurfaced once again as only 3 women were elected to the National Assembly. In order to address this problem, president Mokgweetsi Masisi chose to nominate four women to the specially elected seats. Among the members nominated was notable human rights activist Dr. Unity Dow and financial official Peggy Serame. [31]
Following these nominations, a different significant event for the National Assembly occurred in March of 2020. Because of the COVID-19 Pandemic, President Masisi called for a six month state of public emergency in order to address the virus. This was only the second state of public emergency declaration in Botswana’s history. Yet, even though the National Assembly eventually approved the six month state of public emergency, there was still concern among members of opposition parties because of the powers that it would invest upon the president. As a result, the debate over approving the state of public emergency was shown on national television for the purpose of improving transparency. [24] Soon after, Botswana's National Assembly drew international attention because all members of Parliament, including the President, were forced to quarantine due to exposure to the COVID-19 virus. [32]
The National Assembly is the only part of the Batswana National Government that private citizens elect. [23] Botswana uses a First-past-the-post system for elections whereby candidates with the most votes win single-member constituencies. [22] Originally, voting occurred with disks that corresponded to various candidates based on color. Then, in 1999, the national elections switched to using paper ballots. [33] Regarding voter safety, 89% of Afrobarometer survey respondents expressed that they were able to vote freely without external pressure. [34]
Elections for the Botswana National Assembly occur every 5 years, with the last election occurring in 2019. [14] [17] For some political parties, elections for MPs are preceded by primaries. However, hosting primaries is not a legal obligation in Botswana. Additionally, there is currently no gender quota system for elections to the National Assembly. [22] In a recent survey, support for a gender quota system was nearly evenly split. 48% approved by 47% disapproved. [34]
In order to be a candidate for MP, a person must be 18 years old, registered to vote, and also a citizen of Botswana. They also must be able to read and speak English. [18] Along with this, there are circumstances in which a person can be disqualified from office. For example, a person cannot be bankrupt, labeled insane, or sentenced to imprisonment longer than six months. They also cannot actively be either a member of Ntlo ya Dikgosi or a public official that oversees elections. [18]
Since 1965, the BDP has won a majority of seats in the National Assembly in every election. [21] [20] Yet, even though the BDP has received consistent support (especially from rural constituencies), there is evidence that elections are growing more competitive over time. [20] Over the course of the 2000s, the number of competitive constituencies increased. Along with this, the BDP has been securing more of its seats through pluralities instead of majorities in recent elections. [20] In 2014, for the first time in the nation’s history, opposition parties won a majority of the total votes. [16] Then, during the 2019 elections, former President Ian Khama switched loyalty and endorsed the opposition party Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC). [17] Despite both of these notable events, however, the BDP has always maintained its majority of seats in the National Assembly. [16] In the 2019 elections, the BDP won 29 seats and the UDC was well behind with only 13 seats. Three of the four remaining seats went to the Botswana Patriotic Front, while the other went to the Alliance for Progressives. [17]
Regarding voter participation, there were 900,000 voters who were registered for the 2019 elections. [30] Additionally, the 2019 Afrobarometer survey showed that 63% of people - 64% of women and 62% of men - voted in the 2014 parliamentary elections. [34] Previously, in 1999, concern over voter participation had been a prominent news story in the country. Before the 1999 elections, 60,000 potential voters were accidentally disqualified when voter rolls were completed too late. Festus Mogae, who was the President at the time, declared the nation’s first state of public emergency in order to call the National Assembly and pass a law allowing unintentionally disenfranchised people to vote. [33]
Political party | Election year | |||||||||||
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1965 | 1969 | 1974 | 1979 | 1984 | 1989 | 1994 | 1999 | 2004 | 2009 | 2014 | 2019 | |
Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) | 28 | 24 | 27 | 29 | 29 | 31 | 27 | 33 | 44 | 45 | 37 | 38 |
Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 17 | – |
Botswana National Front (BNF) | – | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 13 | 6 | 12 | 6 | 15 | |
Botswana People's Party (BPP) | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | ||
Botswana Congress Party (BCP) | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | |
Botswana Independence Party (BIP) | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Botswana Alliance Movement (BAM) | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – |
Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 |
Alliance for Progressives (AP) | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 |
Independents | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – |
Total | 31 | 31 | 32 | 32 | 34 | 34 | 40 | 40 | 57 | 57 | 57 | 57 |
Note: In the pre-independence 1965 election, the Botswana Democratic Party was known as the Bechuanaland Democratic party and the Botswana People's Party was known as the Bechuanaland People's Party. The chart also does not include ex-officio and co-opted members.
With five peaceful presidential transitions, consistent multi-party rule, and a lack of military coup attempts, Botswana’s governing system is extremely stable. [16] [17] [15] Despite this, however, the most recent Afrobarometer survey showed varied feedback from Batswana respondents about the National Assembly's performance. Though 34% of respondents agreed that Parliament acts well to reflect their opinions, 35% disagreed. More specifically, 57% of respondents stated that they disapproved of their own representative’s performance in Parliament. Meanwhile, regarding the respondents trust in the government, 24% did not trust Parliament at all and 28% only trusted Parliament a little. [34]
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 Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) rules as a dominant party; while elections are considered free and fair by observers, the BDP has controlled the National Assembly since independence. Political opposition often exists between factions in the BDP rather than through separate parties, though several opposition parties exist and regularly hold a small number of seats in the National Assembly.
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 National Front (BNF) is a social democratic political party in Botswana. It has been the main opposition party in Botswana since the 1969 elections.
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.
Elections in Botswana take place within the framework of a multi-party democracy and a parliamentary system. The National Assembly is mostly directly elected, and in turn elects the President and some of its own members. The Ntlo ya Dikgosi is a mixture of appointed, hereditary and indirectly elected members.
The Parliament of Botswana consists of the President and the National Assembly. In contrast to other parliamentary systems, the Parliament elects the President directly for a set five-year term of office. A president can only serve 2 full terms. The President is both Head of state and of government in Botswana's parliamentary republican system. Parliament of Botswana is the supreme legislative authority. The President of Botswana is Mokgweetsi Masisi, who assumed the Presidency on 1 April 2018. In October 2019, the 2019 general election was held which saw the return of the Botswana Democratic Party to the power with a majority of 19 seats in the 65 seat National Assembly.
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 16 October 2009, alongside local elections, with early voting in 26 polling stations abroad taking place 3 October. The result was a tenth successive victory for the Botswana Democratic Party, which won 45 of the 57 elected seats in the National Assembly.
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.
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).
Duma Gideon Boko is a Botswana politician who serves as the president of both the Botswana National Front (BNF) and the main opposition alliance, the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC). He was the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly from 2014–2019. He is a lawyer and jurist.
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 straight victory for the BDP.
In Botswana, the Leader of the Opposition is the person who leads the official opposition in Botswana. The position is awarded to the leader of the political party with the largest number of seats in the National Assembly that is not in the government. The position was created shortly before the independence of Botswana, after the first elections under universal suffrage in the then territory of Bechuanaland.
The 2024 Botswana general election must be held no later than 29 October 2024. It will determine the composition of the 13th Parliament of Botswana as well as local councils across the country. Up for election are 61 seats of the National Assembly as well as 609 local council seats, all elected through the first-past-the-post voting system.
The 12th Parliament of Botswana is the current meeting of the National Assembly, the unicameral legislature of the Parliament of Botswana, with the membership determined by the results of the general election held on 23 October 2019. The legislature convened for the first time on 5 November 2019.
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.
2 are Ex-officios being the President and The Speaker
The BCP is currently stuck in the coalition because it cannot afford to trigger by-elections because of a new piece of legislation that prohibits Parliament floor crossing.
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