Botswana Democratic Party

Botswana Democratic Party
Abbreviation BDP
Leader Mokgweetsi Masisi
Chairman Slumber Tsogwane
Founded 1961
Headquarters Gaborone, South-East District
Ideology Conservatism
Christian democracy
Political position Right-wing
International affiliation Socialist International (consultative)[1]
National Assembly
44 / 63
Pan African Parliament
5 / 5
Party flag

The Botswana Democratic Party (abbreviated BDP) is the governing party in Botswana. Its chairman is the current Vice-President of the Republic of Botswana, Slumber Tsogwane. The previous party chairs include, among others, Mokgweetsi Masisi, Ponatshego Kedikilwe, Daniel Kwelagobe, Samson Guma Moyo, and Lieutenant General Ian Khama.

The BDP was primarily shaped by two of its founders, Sir Seretse Khama and Quett Masire, who are celebrated for nurturing the success of Botswana. Traditional Setswana communities make up the party's base, which has led the BDP to remain a conservative movement.

In the 2014 Parliamentary elections, the BDP took 37 seats, giving it continued control of the chamber.[2]

History

In November 1961, Seretse Khama and other delegates to the African Advisory Council founded the party in Lobatse. Within the next few months Masire and Khama drafted a party constitution, and then held the party's first public meeting in Gaborone on the 28th of February, 1962.[3] Following the meeting the BDP was organized in the northern sections of the country by Seretse Khama, Amos Dambe, Archelaus Tsoebebe and James Haskins. The southern and western regions were primarily organized by the party secretary, Quett Masire. Masire also began publishing the party newspaper, Therisanyo/Consultation, in 1963, building on his past journalistic experiences. As a result of effective propaganda and organizing across the entire country, the BDP won a landslide in the 1965 election, taking 28 out of 31 seats. During the run-up to independence in 1966, Khama and Masire formed a formidable leadership team. Not only did they agree on major policy decisions, but they also identified and recruited talent into the party and government.[4]

With Seretse Khama as President and Quett Masire as vice-president, Botswana prospered. Rapid economic growth and a peaceful, democratic society were the result.

For the next three decades, the BDP dominated the National Assembly, facing at most nine opposition MPs. Khama died in 1980, and was succeeded by his vice president, Quett Masire. His last term saw the BDP's dominance challenged for the first time, with opposition candidates winning 17 out of 44 seats.

Festus Mogae served as the country's president between 1998 and 2008. He was awarded the Grand Cross of the Légion d'honneur by French President Nicolas Sarkozy on 20 March 2008 for his "exemplary leadership" in making Botswana a "model" of democracy and good governance.[5] Mogae won the 2008 Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership.[6][7]

Prior to the introduction of primary elections in 1998, the BDP leadership maintained a tight control over candidate selection and party financing. Since then, the primary system (known as "buleladitswe") combined with ongoing factional strife, has led to a loss of overall cohesion and increased competition for positions. Some, such as party founder Quett Masire, deplored this new development and believed that it had corrupted the party.[8] Others have maintained that it modernized the party and brought in new political voices that could broaden its appeal in urban constituencies.

Ian Khama, the son of former president Sir Seretse Khama, joined to the party ahead of the 1999 general elections. Currently the party is ridden by factions and observers predict that unless discipline is instilled, the party will split. One faction (calling itself Barata-Phathi) is led by Ponatshego Kedikilwe, and former Secretary General Daniel Kwelagobe, while the dominant faction (calling itself The A Team) is led by cabinet ministers Jacob Nkate and Mompati Merafhe. The A Team was formerly led by President Festus Mogae and his Vice-President Ian Khama. Both of them have since pulled out from leading factions even though they are still members of 'The A Team'.

On the first of April 2008, Ian Khama ascended to the presidency as the fourth President of the Republic of Botswana, as a result relinquishing his chairmanship of the Botswana Democratic Party. The vacant post was then undertaken by party stalwart and veteran Daniel Kwelagobe. Despite this development, Ian Khama moved to sideline Kwelagobe and other "Baratha-Phathi" factionalists in the government. In his inauguration address, Ian Khama outlined the National Vision 2016.[9]

In May 2010, the BDP split, with the Botswana Movement for Democracy formed, led by Botsalo Ntuane and the other Parliament ministers who opposed President Khama's political decisions.[10]

The 2014 election resulted in the BDP taking 37 parliamentary seats,[2] a decreased margin from the previous election in 2009, but still a majority in the 63-seat chamber and 20 seats more than the next largest party. As a result, President Khama retained his position as president for a second five-year term.[11]

The current chairman of the Botswana Democratic Party is Slumber Tsogwane.

Chairman of the Botswana Democratic Party and the 9th Vice-president of Botswana, Slumber Tsogwane

Election results

Election # of total votes % of popular vote # of seats won rank Position
1965 113,167 80.4
28 / 31
 1st Majority
1969 52,218 68.3
24 / 31
 1st Majority
1974 49,047 76.6
27 / 36
 1st Majority
1979 101,098 75.2
29 / 36
 1st Majority
1984 154,863 68.0
29 / 38
 1st Majority
1989 162,277 64.8
31 / 38
 1st Majority
1994 154,687 54.7
27 / 44
 1st Majority
1999 192,598 57.1
33 / 44
 1st Majority
2004 213,308 51.7
44 / 63
 1st Majority
2009 290,099 53.3
45 / 63
 1st Majority
2014 320,657 46.5
37 / 63
 1st Majority

Notable members

References

  1. ↑ Member parties of the Socialist International
  2. 1 2 "2014 general elections results (MPs)". Daily News. 26 October 2014. Archived from the original on 27 October 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  3. ↑ N. Parsons, W Henderson and T Tlou. Seretse Khama, 1921-1980. Gaborone: Botswana Society, 1995, 194-7.
  4. ↑ Parsons, Henderson, Tlou, Seretse Khama, Chapter 9.
  5. ↑ "Sarkozy décore le président du Botswana pour sa bonne gouvernance" Archived 2011-05-20 at the Wayback Machine., AFP, March 20, 2008 (in French).
  6. ↑ ap.google.com, Former president of Botswana gets leadership prize Archived October 31, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  7. ↑ reuters.com, Botswana's Mogae wins African leadership prize
  8. ↑ President Masire's Final Message to Botswana. https://www.academia.edu/33661982/President_Masires_Final_Message_to_Botswana
  9. ↑ "Inauguration address: President SKI Khama".
  10. ↑ "Botswana Breakaway Party Launched in Split With Khama (Update1)". Bloomberg Businessweek. 29 May 2010. Archived from the original on 16 April 2011. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  11. ↑ "Botswana ruling party wins national elections". Al Jazeera. 26 October 2014. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
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