Presidential term
The president is elected to a five-year term that runs concurrently with the term of the National Assembly. [4] Previously, a president could be reelected any number of times. In 1997, under the second president, Quett Masire, term limits were imposed on the office for the first time. [6] Since 1998, the president has been limited to a total of 10 years in office (equivalent to two full terms), whether successive or separated. [6] The first president for whom the term limits applied was Festus Mogae, who was required to leave office for good in 2008. Each president gets a guaranteed pension. [8]
Election
During the general election campaign, all candidates for the National Assembly declare whom they endorse for President when they lodge their nomination papers. If a party or alliance secures an absolute majority of elected MPs in the legislative elections, its presidential candidate, always the party or alliance's leader, becomes the new president immediately without the need for an investiture vote. [9] In practice, since legislative elections are conducted through first-past-the-post voting, elections have always produced single-party majority governments ever since the first general election in 1965 and thus a presidential election by Members of Parliament has never happened.
The president is elected by the members of the National Assembly following a general election that produces a hung parliament. In the event that no candidate secures a simple majority, the National Assembly elects the president through secret ballot, with a simple majority of the total number of MPs (excluding 'specially-elected' MPs) required to win. This election is limited to candidates whose party at least 10 MPs. If, after three rounds of voting, no candidate is elected, two additional rounds may be authorized by the speaker, if it is deemed that a successful election remains possible. Should these rounds also fail to produce a winner, or if the speaker declines to authorise further rounds, the National Assembly will be dissolved and snap elections will be held. [9]
The president's survival in office is dependent on whether their government enjoys the confidence of a majority of the National Assembly. They can be removed by a motion of no confidence, prompting their resignation or if not, the dissolution of parliament if the president refuses to do so, which triggers a snap election.
Presidential powers
The president is the head of state, head of government and commander-in-chief of the Botswana Defence Force. The rights, responsibilities and remuneration of the president are enumerated in Chapter III of the Constitution and subsequent acts passed by the National Assembly.
The executive powers of the republic are vested in the president, who appoints various officials to positions listed in the Constitution, the most significant of which are the cabinet ministers and Justices of Appeal of the Court of Appeal. The president should consult the Cabinet on respective matters of policy. The president could assent or withhold his assent on bills passed by the National Assembly. If the National Assembly passed the bill again the President shall assent or withhold his assent within 21 days, or could dissolve the National Assembly. The president is accorded the constitutional powers to declare state of public emergencies and grant pardons or commutation with the advice of the Advisory Committee of Prerogative of Mercy.
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