Botswana general election, 1999

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.

Background

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.^[1]

Prior to the election, the National Assembly was dissolved in late July 1999.^[2] Because fewer than half of the roughly 800,000 eligible voters had registered, it was decided in late July to introduce supplementary voter registration.^[3] On 27 August it was reported that President Festus Mogae had set the election date for 16 October.^[4] However, announcing the date invalidated the supplementary voter registration^[3] because the names of the recently registered voters had not yet been published for inspection.^[5] 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.^[3]

Campaign

The main opposition party, the Botswana National Front (BNF) split in mid-1998 after party leader Kenneth Koma was suspended by the party's central committee, and then had the suspension overturned by a court ruling. After Koma returned to the party leadership, he formed a caretaker committee to remove the members who had opposed him. The excluded members subsequently left to form the BCP, which included 11 of the BNF's 13 MPs and most of its local councillors.^[6] As a result, BCP leader Michael Dingake replaced Koma as Leader of the Opposition.^[6]

Following talks that began in late 1998, the BNF, the United Action Party and five other opposition parties agreed to form the BAM in January 1999. However, the BNF had left the alliance by the end of April 1999 after the other parties refused to allow the BNF to determine the Alliance's candidates in every constituency.^[6]

The election campaign was low-key, and focussed on poverty, unemployment, wealth distribution and the country's AIDS epidemic. The BDP campaigned on a promise of prudent financial management, industrial diversification and efforts to combat the AIDS problem. The BNF criticised the government's economic policy, claiming it was too focussed on urban areas. The BCP claimed the government was too complacent, having been in power since the mid-1960s.^[7]

Results

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Botswana Democratic Party	192,598	57.15	33	+6
Botswana National Front	87,457	25.95	6	–7
Botswana Congress Party	40,096	11.90	1	+1
Botswana Alliance Movement	15,805	4.69	0	New
MELS Movement of Botswana	22	0.01	0	New
Independents	1,004	0.30	0	New
Indirectly-elected seats	–	–	4	–
Invalid/blank votes	17,483	–	–	–
Total	354,466	100	44	0
Registered voters/turnout	459,662	77.11	–	–
Source: African Elections Database

Aftermath

Following the elections, the National Assembly re-elected Mogae as President on 20 October.^[7]

References

1. Elections in Botswana African Elections Database
2. BOTSWANA: Parliament dissolved ahead of elections IRIN, 26 July 1999
3. BOTSWANA: State of emergency defended IRIN, 6 September 1999
4. BOTSWANA: Election date set for 16 October IRIN, 27 August 1999
5. BOTSWANA: State of emergency to be lifted IRIN, 7 September 2008
6. Botswana: The October 1999 General Election EISA
7. Elections held in 1999 IPU