President of Botswana

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President of the Republic of Botswana
Flag of the President of Botswana.svg
Presidential flag
Mokgweetsi E.K. Masisi, President of the Republic of Botswana.jpg
Incumbent
Mokgweetsi Masisi
since 1 April 2018
Style Mr President
His Excellency
Residence State House
Seat Gaborone
Appointer Parliament of Botswana
Term length 5 years, renewable once
Constituting instrument Constitution of Botswana
Inaugural holder Seretse Khama
Formation30 September 1966
Deputy Vice-President of Botswana
Salary1,075,056 Botswana pula [1]

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.

Contents

Presidential term

The president is elected to a five-year term that runs concurrently with the term of the National Assembly. Since 1997, the tenure of presidency has been limited to a total of 10 years (equivalent to two full terms), whether successive or separated. For example, if current president Mokgweetsi Masisi were to leave office in 2024, he could run again in 2029, but would have to leave office for good in 2034.

The first president for whom the term limits applied was Festus Mogae in 2008. [2]

Election

The president is elected by the Members of the National Assembly following a general election. All candidates for the National Assembly declare whom they endorse for president when they lodge their nomination papers, and the candidate who receives a majority of endorsements from the elected members of the National Assembly is automatically elected. [3] [4] [5] If no candidate receives a majority of endorsements, the National Assembly elects the president by simple majority, before it co-opts the specially elected members. If no president is elected after three ballots, or if the Speaker determines that no candidate has enough support to be elected, the legislature is automatically dissolved. [4] In practice, the president is the leader of the majority party in the Assembly.

Presidents of Botswana (1966–present)

Political parties
   Botswana Democratic Party (BDP)
Symbols

Died in office

No.PortraitName
(Birth–Death)
ElectedTerm of officePolitical party
Took officeLeft officeTime in office
1 Seretse Khama 1961.png Seretse Khama
(1921–1980)
1965
1969
1974
1979
30 September 196613 July 1980 [†] 13 years, 287 days BDP
2 QuettMasire1980 (cropped).jpg Quett Masire
(1925–2017)
1984
1989
1994
18 July 198031 March 199817 years, 256 days BDP
3 Festus Mogae 2009-06-23.jpg Festus Mogae
(born 1939)
1999
2004
1 April 19981 April 200810 years BDP
4 Ian Khama (2014) (cropped) (cropped).jpg Ian Khama
(born 1953)
2009
2014
1 April 20081 April 201810 years BDP
5 Mokgweetsi E.K. Masisi, President of the Republic of Botswana.jpg Mokgweetsi Masisi
(born 1961)
2019 1 April 2018Incumbent6 years, 14 days BDP

Lifespan timeline of presidents of Botswana

This is a graphical lifespan timeline of presidents of Botswana. The presidents are listed in order of office.

Mokgweetsi MasisiIan KhamaFestus MogaeQuett MasireSeretse KhamaPresident of Botswana

Footnotes

  1. Error: Unable to display the reference properly. See the documentation for details.
  2. Cook, Candace; Siegle, Joseph. "Circumvention of Term Limits Weakens Governance in Africa". Africa Center for Strategic Studies.
  3. Chaudry, Serena (18 October 2009). "Botswana's President Khama wins new term". The Independent . Reuters.
  4. 1 2 The President and Vice President. Chapter 4, Part I, Constitution of Botswana
  5. Ntuane, Batsalo. Democratic forces must safeguard presidential term limits Archived 2018-06-23 at the Wayback Machine . Mwegi, 2006-05-22.

See also

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References