Sello Motseta
25th October 2019
Botswana’s ruling party has won a resounding 38 of the 57 seats in the National Assembly in a first past the post electoral system ensuring them another 5 years at the helm buoyed by President Mokgweetsi Masisi’s commitment to fighting corruption and sympathisers irked by former President’s Ian Khama’s attempts to undermine his hand-picked successors leadership.
The motley crew of coalition of opposition parties aligned to Umbrella for Democratic Change(UDC) led by flamboyant lawyer Duma Boko, garnered 15 seats, while the Khama-sponsored Botswana Patriotic Front, won 3 seats with the Alliance of Progressives(AP), retaining only the 1 seat of its combative Secretary General Wynter Mmolotsi, in Francistown.
A political analyst believes ruling party benefited from sympathy votes especially in urban areas like Gaborone who believed Khama wanted to perpetuate his hold on power.
“People appeared to be picking sides in the ongoing feud between President Masisi and predecessor by supporting incumbent. There was a feeling Masisi was not being room to be his own man. There were also many people who would ordinarily vote opposition who supported Masisi to snub Khama, who is not popular amongst the middle class,” said Alvin Yalala, Independent Consultant.
He said, “The other reason is the UDC alignment to Khama was perceived to a betrayal of principle because many were critical of his administration. They wanted opposition as an alternative and not as an appendage of the former president.”
Yalala feared aligning themselves to an opposition which appeared ready to allow former President a foothold, in a new political dispensation.
The AU Observer Mission gave polls a clean bill of health commending Government, the Independent Electoral Commission(IEC), candidates and their supporters for the peaceful conduct of elections before and during polling.
“The conduct of the elections largely conformed to international, continental and regional best practice and standards,” said Fatoumata Jallow-Tambajang, Head of African Union(AU) 30 strong Observer Mission in Botswana.
It however urged the Botswana Government to enact laws that provide for public funding of political parties and governing private funding of political parties. The IEC was encouraged to count and post results at polling stations to avoid logistical and operational challenges in the transfer of election materials and counting of votes.
Women and young people appeared to have made their vote count despite the lower than expected voter registration. The considerable resources expended by the opposition to fly leaders around country did not yield desired return with flamboyant UDC Duma Boko losing elections.
Chief Justice Terence Rannowane earlier in the day announced that Dr Eric Mokgweetsi Masisi reached the 29 constitutional threshold required to assume Botswana’s Presidency.
In terms of section 38 of Constitution of Botswana, the Chief Justice who is returning officer for elections is empowered to declare a winner once threshold is achieved.
“Although the counting of ballots is still ongoing, numbers of elected members of the National Assembly declared by the Independent Electoral Commission as winners are sufficient to enable me, as the returning officer for Presidential election, to determine which Presidential candidate has obtained the required minimum support of the Members of Parliament to be declared President of the Republic of Botswana, ” said Rannowane.
He said,” Before making the declaration however, it is necessary to explain that in terms of section 32 subsection 3(d) of the constitution, the returning officer is obliged to declare to be elected as President, any candidate who garners support of such number of persons elected Members of the National Assembly in the Parliamentary elections as corresponds to more than half the total number of seats for the elected Members in the National Assembly.
Women’s League President Dorcas Makgato’s running tussle with Khama proved costly, with a big surprise being the loss of affable Gaborone legislator Ndaba Gaolathe and the victory of the ruling party in Gaborone Central, long a strong hold of the opposition.
Khama is a paramount chief in the central district where Mokgato held a parliamentary seat.
The opposition Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) and Botswana Patriotic Front(BPF) who enjoyed Khama’s support won an unprecedented 8 seats in the influential central district, which is traditionally a ruling party stronghold.
Over 30 parliamentarians will be entering parliament for the very first time. This is largest number of new faces in the National Assembly in Botswana’s post-independence election period, in what is literally a changing of the guard and the birth of a new dawn.
