Parliament of Botswana

The Parliament of Botswana consists of the President and the National Assembly.[4] In contrast to other parliamentary systems, the Parliament elects the President directly (instead of having both a ceremonial President and a Prime Minister who has real authority as head of government) 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.[5] The President of Botswana is Mokgweetsi Masisi, who assumed the Presidency on 1 April 2018 after winning the 2019 general election and returning his Botswana Democratic Party with a majority of 19 seats in the 65 seat National Assembly.

Parliament of Botswana
Palamente ya Botswana
12th Parliament
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
HousesNational Assembly
History
Founded1 March 1965 (1965-03-01)
Leadership
Mokgweetsi Masisi
since 1 April 2018
Phandu Skelemani
since 5 November 2019
Leader of the House
Slumber Tsogwane, BDP
since 5 November 2019
Leader of Opposition
Dithapelo Keorapetse, UDC
since 12 July 2022
Structure
Seats65
National Assembly political groups
Government (45)
  •   Botswana Democratic Party (38)
  •   Specially elected (6)[1]
  •   Ex-officio (2)[2]

Official opposition (18)

Other opposition (2)

Elections
First-past-the-post voting
Last National Assembly election
23 October 2019
Next National Assembly election
By October 2024
Meeting place
National Assembly Chamber
Gaborone
South-East District
Website
www.parliament.gov.bw
Politics of Botswana
Constitution
Government
Parliament
Judiciary
Administrative divisions
Elections
Foreign relations

There also exists a body known as Ntlo ya Dikgosi, (The House of Chiefs), which is an advisory body that does not form part of the Parliament.[6]

Botswana is one of only two nations on the African continent (with the other being Mauritius) to have achieved a clean record of free and fair elections since independence, having held 10 elections since 1966 without any serious incidents of corruption.[7]

See also

Notes
  1. Despite having left the UDC, the 7 MPs still sit under the UDC group in Parliament as a result of a ban on floor crossings.[3]

References
  1. "Masisi's SEMPs A Tough Assignment". Mmegi. The Monitor. 4 November 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  2. "FAQs". parliament.gov.bw. Parliament of Botswana. Retrieved 22 July 2021. 2 are Ex-officios being the President and The Speaker
  3. Tlhankane, Mompati (5 June 2023). "UDC accused of destabilising BCP". Mmegi. Retrieved 6 June 2023. 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.
  4. Constitution of the Republic of Botswana, 1966
  5. "Parliament of Botswana". Parliament of Botswana. 19 March 2021. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  6. Proctor, J. H. (1968). "The House of Chiefs and the Political Development of Botswana". The Journal of Modern African Studies. 6 (1): 59–79. doi:10.1017/S0022278X00016670. ISSN 0022-278X. JSTOR 158677. S2CID 154486897.
  7. US State Department


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