- Botswana's President Festus Mogae yesterday announced the dissolution of Parliament. This is "a routine step ahead of general elections," according to a statement by the presidency. A date for the upcoming poll has yet to be announced.
Yesterday morning, the Batswana President made a proclamation, referring to the country's constitution, saying: "I, Festus Gontebanye Mogae, President of the Republic of Botswana, do hereby proclaim and make known that I hereby dissolve Parliament with effect from the close of business on this 3rd day of September, 2004."
According to presidential spokesman Jeff Ramsay, the announcement by the Batswana President constitutionally is "a routine step ahead of general elections." President Mogae thus did not stay for long at Parliament, but travelled out of the capital for several meetings.
There has yet to be announced a date for the upcoming parliamentary elections. The now dissolved national assembly was elected in October 1999 for a five year term, making it probable that the next parliamentary poll may be conducted already in October. Botswana is also to organise presidential polls in October this year.
In Batswana politics, there are two main rival parties and a number of smaller parties. In the 1999 general elections, the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) won 33 of the 40 contested parliamentary seats (54.2 percent of the votes). The main opposition party, the Botswana National Front (BNF) won only six seats, having achieved 24.6 percent of all votes.
The ruling BDP is also favourite to win the upcoming parliamentary elections, as it has done ever since independence in 1966. Also President Mogae, representing BDP, is expected to be re-elected in the presidential polls. Despite the political dominance of the BDP, Botswana has been a model country of upholding democratic institutions since independence, always allowing free and transparent elections.
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