Parliament of Botswana

*Parliament of Botswana*
*Palamente ya Botswana*
Parliament of Botswana; Palamente ya Botswana
13th Parliament
Type
Type	Unicameral
Houses	National Assembly
History
Founded	1 March 1965
Leadership
Speaker	Dithapelo Keorapetse ; since 7 November 2024
Deputy Speaker	Helen Manyeneng, UDC ; since 7 November 2024
President of Botswana	Duma Boko ; since 1 November 2024
Leader of the House	Ndaba Gaolathe, UDC ; since 7 November 2024
Government Whip	TBD, UDC
Leader of the Opposition	Dumelang Saleshando, BCP ; since 11 November 2024
Opposition whip	Caterpillar Hikuama, BCP ; since 11 November 2024
Structure
Seats	69
National Assembly political groups	Government (49) Umbrella for Democratic Change (36); Botswana Patriotic Front (5); Specially-elected (6); Independent (1); President; (Ex-officio) (1); Official opposition (15) Botswana Congress Party (15); Other opposition (4) Botswana Democratic Party (4); Presiding officer (1) Speaker; (Ex-officio) (1);
Elections
National Assembly voting system	First-past-the-post voting
Last National Assembly election	30 October 2024
Meeting place
	National Assembly Chamber; Gaborone; South-East District
Website
	www.parliament.gov.bw

The Parliament of Botswana consists of the President and the National Assembly.^[2] 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.^[3] The President of Botswana is Mokgweetsi Masisi, who assumed the Presidency on 1 April 2018. In October 2019, the 2019 general election was held which saw the return of the Botswana Democratic Party to the power with a majority of 19 seats in the 65 seat National Assembly.

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.^[4]

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 11 elections since 1966 without any serious incidents of corruption.^[5]

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

^ ^a ^b "FAQs". parliament.gov.bw. Parliament of Botswana. Retrieved 22 July 2021. 2 are Ex-officios being the President and The Speaker
^ Constitution of the Republic of Botswana, 1966
^ "Parliament of Botswana". Parliament of Botswana. 19 March 2021. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
^ 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.
^ US State Department

[ExO-2] "FAQs". parliament.gov.bw. Parliament of Botswana. Retrieved 22 July 2021. 2 are Ex-officios being the President and The Speaker

[3] Constitution of the Republic of Botswana, 1966

[4] "Parliament of Botswana". Parliament of Botswana. 19 March 2021. Retrieved 19 March 2021.

[5] 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.

[6] US State Department

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