Botswana Government

Botswana's political system can be described as a representative parliamentary democratic republic. The President of Botswana is the head of government and head of state, working within a multi-party system. Botswana was formerly a British colonial constitutional democracy, and after gaining independence in 1966, the first President of Botswana Seretse Khama emerged victorious in the first elections as a republic. The country has maintained a tradition of stable democracy as well as being one of the least corrupt nations on the continent.

Elections in the country have been freely and fairly contested with transparency and have always been held on schedule. Minority groups in the country are free to participate in the political process, unlike many neighbouring nations. General elections are held at least once every five years in Botswana.

The Parliament of Botswana is located in the capital city of Gaborone which is located in the south-east of the country. The parliament is known as the National Assembly and has 61 members representing the nine districts of the nation; Southern District, South-East District, Kweneng District, Kgatleng District, Central District, North-East District, North-West District, Ghazni District and Kgalagadi District. 57 members of the National Assembly are directly elected in single-member constituencies using the simple-majority system and their terms last five years. Four members are co-opted by a secret ballot of the rest of the Assembly, and the President and Attorney-general are elected by the National Assembly from the representatives already holding office.

The political party scene in Botswana has traditionally been dominated by the Botswana Democratic Party.