The next Botswana general election must be held no later than 5 January 2030, following the dissolution of the 13th Parliament of Botswana to renew the composition of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

and local councils, last elected on 30 October 2024. Voters will elect 61 members to the National Assembly and 609 members to local councils across the country under the

first-past-the-post voting First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or first-preference, and the candidate with more first- ...

system, in which all members are elected from single-member districts. Due to long-standing convention, general elections are held in October, thus it is likely that the next general election will be held in October 2029. However, the election could be called earlier if the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

dissolves Parliament for a

snap election A snap election is an election that is called earlier than the one that has been scheduled. Snap elections in parliamentary systems are often called to resolve a political impasse such as a hung parliament where no single political party has a ma ...

or if the government loses a vote on a

supply bill In the Westminster system (and, colloquially, in the United States), a money bill or supply bill is a bill that solely concerns taxation or government spending (also known as appropriation of money), as opposed to changes in public law. Conv ...

or a

motion of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...

. Given the current government's large

parliamentary majority A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. Such a government can consist of one party that holds a majority on its own, or be a coalition government of multip ...

, this scenario is unlikely.

Background

The election held on 30 October 2024 saw the

Botswana Democratic Party The Botswana Democratic Party (Abbreviation, abbr. BDP, colloquially known as Domkrag) is a centre-right politics, centre-right political party in Botswana. From the country's 1965 Bechuanaland general election, inaugural election in 1965 until th ...

(BDP) lose elections for the first time after being resoundingly defeated by the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) after nearly six-decades in power. In one of the worst defeats of a governing party in the Commonwealth, the BDP lost 90% of its parliamentary representation and was reduced to a rump of four seats out of 61, making it the smallest of the four factions represented in the National Assembly. The opposition alliance, UDC, emerged victorious by securing a majority of the directly elected seats in the National Assembly.

Parties

The table below shows to the composition of the National Assembly after the 2024 general election and summarises the changes in party affiliation that took place during the 2024–present Parliament.

Electoral system

For the next general election, the membership of the

consists of 61 MPs elected in single-member constituencies by

, six members appointed by the governing party and two ex-officio members (the

and the Speaker). Voters are required to be citizens of Botswana and at least 18 years old and have been resident in the country for at least 12 months prior to voter registration. People who are declared insane, hold dual citizenship, under a death sentence, convicted of an electoral offence or imprisoned for at least six months are not allowed to vote.Electoral system
IPU Candidates have to be citizens of Botswana, at least 21 years old, without an undischarged bankruptcy and be able to speak and read English sufficiently well to take part in parliamentary proceedings. They must also obtain a nomination from at least two voters in their constituency and the support of seven. A deposit is required, which is refunded if the candidate receives at least 5% of the vote in the constituency. Members of the

Ntlo ya Dikgosi The ''Ntlo ya Dikgosi'' ( Tswana for "House of Chiefs") in Botswana is an advisory body to the country's parliament.motion of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...

, prompting their resignation or if not, the

dissolution of parliament The dissolution of a legislative assembly (or parliament) is the simultaneous termination of service of all of its members, in anticipation that a successive legislative assembly will reconvene later with possibly different members. In a democracy ...

if the president refuses to do so. 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 An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or sovereign state, states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an a ...

secures an absolute majority of elected MPs in the legislative elections, its presidential candidate–always the party or alliance's leader–becomes president without the need for an investiture vote. In practice, since legislative elections are conducted through

, this has been the norm, with Botswana always having majority governments ever since the inaugural election in

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

. 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 who have the support of 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 authorize further rounds, the National Assembly will be dissolved, and new elections will be held.

Notes

References

{{Botswana elections

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

Elections in Botswana