Выборы в Ботсване в 1999 году

General election in Botswana

General elections were held in Botswana on 16 October 1999, alongside local elections. The result was an eighth straight victory for the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), which increased its majority to 33 of the 40 elected seats in the National Assembly.

A referendum on electoral reform in 1997 had led to the creation of a new Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), the lowering of the voting age from 21 to 18, and allowing overseas citizens to vote. Prior to the elections, the National Assembly was dissolved in late July 1999. Because fewer than half of the roughly 800,000 eligible voters had registered, it was decided in late July to introduce supplementary voter registration. On 27 August it was reported that President Festus Mogae had set the election date for 16 October. However, announcing the date invalidated the supplementary voter registration As a result, Mogae declared a state of emergency so that the National Assembly could meet again to amend legislation in order to allow the addition of about 60,000 people to the voters roll; this was the first time a state of emergency had been declared since Botswana became independent. A spokesman for the Botswana Electoral Commission described the situation as "very normal" and said that the election date would not be changed. The opposition Botswana Alliance Movement (BAM) and Botswana Congress Party (BCP) were critical, however, with the former's Lepetu Setshwaelo describing it as "the biggest scandal since our independence" and calling the government "totally incompetent". The BCP said that the state of emergency was unnecessary. As a result, BCP leader Michael Dingake replaced Koma as Leader of the Opposition.

Following the elections, the National Assembly re elected Mogae as President on 20 October.