Национальная ассамблея Ботсваны: история и современность.

Botswana's national unicameral legislature

The National Assembly is the sole legislative body of Botswana's unicameral Parliament, of which consists of the President and the National Assembly. The House passes laws, provides ministers to form Cabinet, and supervises the work of government. It is also responsible for adopting the country's budgets. It is advised by the Ntlo ya Dikgosi, a council of tribal chiefs which is not a house of Parliament. Though there were legislative predecessors to the National Assembly during colonial rule, it was not until independence in 1966 that the National Assembly of Botswana officially formed. Since then, there have been consistent multi party elections and 5 peaceful presidential transitions. Voters in single member constituencies directly elect 57 of these members for a term of 5 years through a plurality (or first past the post) system. Six members, meanwhile, are nominated by the President and elected by the assembly. Finally, the remaining two (the President and Speaker of the National Assembly) are ex officio. Despite the presence of consistent elections, the National Assembly has not escaped criticism. In every election since the founding elections in 1965, the Botswana Democratic Party has won a majority of seats in the legislative body. As a result, an inter party power transition has not occurred. Additionally, political science scholars have sometimes expressed concern about the National Assembly because of its few women MPs and its interconnectedness with the executive.

The National Assembly of Botswana is part of the legislative branch of Botswana's National Government and thus has the primary role of debating and passing bills.

Often, in Botswana, chiefs govern locally by convening community meetings called “Kgotlas." Some scholars, like political scientist John Holm, point to such meetings as examples of how Tswana culture embodies themes of public discourse and debate. Evidently, these values exemplify popular notions of democratic principles. Within this cultural context, chiefs maintained local governance throughout colonial rule.

In 1959, the resident commissioner of Botswana, Peter Fawcus, worked alongside prominent Batswana figures such as Seretse Khama to create a new Legislative Council. Then, soon after this event, a group composed of chiefs, white residents, and members of Botswana’s newly established political parties convened to draft the future Constitution of Botswana. After the 2019 general elections, the concern over the few women MPs resurfaced once again as only 3 women were elected to the National Assembly. In order to address this problem, president Mokgweetsi Masisi chose to nominate four women to the specially elected seats. Among the members nominated was notable human rights activist Dr. Unity Dow and financial official Peggy Serame. Following these nominations, a different significant event for the National Assembly occurred in March of 2020. Because of the COVID 19 Pandemic, President Masisi called for a six month state of public emergency in order to address the virus. This was only the second state of public emergency declaration in Botswana’s history. Yet, even though the National Assembly eventually approved the six month state of public emergency, there was still concern among members of opposition parties because of the powers that it would invest upon the president. As a result, the debate over approving the state of public emergency was shown on national television for the purpose of improving transparency.

The National Assembly is the only part of the Batswana National Government that private citizens elect. Regarding voter safety, 89% of Afrobarometer survey respondents expressed that they were able to vote freely without external pressure. Elections for the Botswana National Assembly occur every 5 years, with the last election occurring in 2019. For some political parties, elections for MPs are preceded by primaries. However, hosting primaries is not a legal obligation in Botswana. Additionally, there is currently no gender quota system for elections to the National Assembly. In a recent survey, support for a gender quota system was nearly evenly split. 48% approved by 47% disapproved. In order to be a candidate for MP, a person must be 18 years old, registered to vote, and also a citizen of Botswana. They also must be able to read and speak English. Along with this, there are circumstances in which a person can be disqualified from office. For example, a person cannot be bankrupt, labeled insane, or sentenced to imprisonment longer than six months. They also cannot actively be either a member of Ntlo ya Dikgosi or a public official that oversees elections. Since 1965, the BDP has won a majority of seats in the National Assembly in every election. Yet, even though the BDP has received consistent support (especially from rural constituencies), there is evidence that elections are growing more competitive over time. Over the course of the 2000s, the number of competitive constituencies increased. Along with this, the BDP has been securing more of its seats through pluralities instead of majorities in recent elections. In 2014, for the first time in the nation’s history, opposition parties won a majority of the total votes. Then, during the 2019 elections, former President Ian Khama switched loyalty and endorsed the opposition party Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC). Despite both of these notable events, however, the BDP has always maintained its majority of seats in the National Assembly. In the 2019 elections, the BDP won 29 seats and the UDC was well behind with only 13 seats. Three of the four remaining seats went to the Botswana Patriotic Front, while the other went to the Alliance for Progressives. Regarding voter participation, there were 900,000 voters who were registered for the 2019 elections. Additionally, the 2019 Afrobarometer survey showed that 63% of people 64% of women and 62% of men voted in the 2014 parliamentary elections. Previously, in 1999, concern over voter participation had been a prominent news story in the country. Before the 1999 elections, 60,000 potential voters were accidentally disqualified when voter rolls were completed too late. Festus Mogae, who was the President at the time, declared the nation’s first state of public emergency in order to call the National Assembly and pass a law allowing unintentionally disenfranchised people to vote.

With five peaceful presidential transitions, consistent multi party rule, and a lack of military coup attempts, Botswana’s governing system is extremely stable. Despite this, however, the most recent Afrobarometer survey showed varied feedback from Batswana respondents about the National Assembly's performance. Though 34% of respondents agreed that Parliament acts well to reflect their opinions, 35% disagreed. More specifically, 57% of respondents stated that they disapproved of their own representative’s performance in Parliament. Meanwhile, regarding the respondents trust in the government, 24% did not trust Parliament at all and 28% only trusted Parliament a little.