General and local elections were held in Botswana on 24 October 2014. The result was an eleventh straight victory for the Botswana Democratic Party, which won 37 of the 57 elected seats. Incumbent president Ian Khama was sworn in for a second term on 28 October."Botswana's Khama sworn in for 2nd term", AFP, 28 October 2014.
The period leading up to the elections was characterized by an unprecedented economic downturn in the country, a direct result of the Great Recession. Additionally, there was a surge in social conflict, including a lengthy public service strike in mid-2011, which was orchestrated by the Botswana Federation of Public Sector Unions (BOFEPUSU). Ian Khama received significant criticism for his handling of these issues, and internal conflicts within the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) deepened. As a result, a more liberal faction of the party, opposed to Khama's leadership, splintered from the BDP and established the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) under the leadership of Gomolemo Motswaledi.
Background The 2009 election witnessed the Botswana Democratic Party's landslide victory, securing 45 out of 57 seats and guaranteeing the election of President Ian Khama for a full term. This victory came despite an opposition divided between the Botswana National Front (BNF) and the Botswana Congress Party (BCP), with the added challenge of the BNF grappling with internal conflicts. In response to this electoral setback, the opposition parties underwent significant internal reorganization. BNF leader Otsweletse Moupo retired in July 2010, and Duma Boko succeeded him. Gilson Saleshando stepped down from BCP leadership, making way for his son, Dumelang Saleshando, who served as the MP for Gaborone Central.
However, despite Khama's consolidated leadership, 2010 saw a deepening of internal divisions, culminating in a significant faction of the party led by Gomolemo Motswaledi breaking away to establish the liberal Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD). This marked the first major split in the BDP in over fifty years. The defection of Members of Parliament from the BDP to the BMD allowed Botsalo Ntuane to assume the position of Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, breaking the forty-year tradition of BNF leaders holding that position.
Khama's first term faced considerable financial challenges. The global Great Recession, starting in 2009, had a profound impact on the Botswana economy. Despite maintaining relative stability compared to the region, Botswana's social situation rapidly deteriorated, reaching its peak in 2011. The country's strong public sector, heavily reliant on diamond exports, suffered from reduced demand for diamonds. Inflation, which had been at 7% per year for many years, surged to 12.6% in 2009. In response, the Khama administration implemented harsh austerity policies supported by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). These policies involved freezing wage increases and reducing the number of public employees, inevitably leading to rising unemployment. Botswana experienced three consecutive years without pay increases in the public service, despite a doubling of inflation in 2009, severely affecting the purchasing power of many workers. These developments weakened the popularity of the BDP and reactivated previously overlooked civil society actors, such as the labour movement.
In early April 2011, in response to the government's refusal to guarantee wage increases, the Botswana Federation of Public Sector Unions (BOFEPUSU), representing nearly 100,000 public employees, initiated the longest public service strike in the country's history, lasting for more than two months until the end of June. BOFEPUSU's main demands included a 16% wage increase, despite the Khama government's insistence that this was unfeasible. The strike also encompassed political grievances, calling for opposition parties to cooperate electorally against the Khama government and the repeal of articles of the Public Service Law that prohibited workers' political participation. In response, the government conducted mass layoffs of essential workers, which allowed it to outsource and comply with IMF demands to reduce the public sector. Although the strike failed to secure a wage increase, it significantly raised political awareness among large sections of the Botswana population. Labour issues in the context of the precarious economic situation became a focal point of debate in the 2014 election campaign.
Opposition politicians capitalized on the opportunity, using BOFEPUSU demonstrations as platforms to criticize the Khama government. Trade unionists and opposition figures began demanding a change in leadership, greatly unsettling the government. BOFEPUSU played a pivotal role in convincing opposition parties to seek electoral unity after decades of deep divisions. While some union leaders had ties to the BCP, many of their complaints called for opposition cooperation. In November 2012, the BNF, the BMD, and the BPP agreed to form the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), marking the first formally registered coalition between major opposition parties since independence. The UDC registered as a political party to contest the elections under a single banner."Botswana opposition groups unite to challenge ruling BDP", Reuters, 3 February 2017Khonani Ontebetse, BDP faces growing UDC threat as elections loom-report Sunday Standard, 29 June 2014
In 2012, the BMD entered into an agreement with the main opposition party, the BNF and the Botswana People's Party to establish the UDC alliance. The alliance participated in the elections by allocating seats among its partners and nominating Duma Boko, the Chairman of BNF, as its unified presidential candidate. Despite BOFEPUSU's efforts, negotiations between the BCP and the UDC for total opposition party unification stalled. Eventually, the BCP, which had become the third largest political party in the country after absorbing two minor parties, the Botswana Alliance Movement and the MELS Movement of Botswana, MELS merges with BCP?, The Gazette, 25 July 2013 decided to contest the elections separately. Lack of BCP-UDC unity gives BOFEPUSU a headache, Mmegi, 19 April 2013 While the opposition remained split, it grew considerably stronger, representing the first substantial challenge to the BDP's uninterrupted rule since Botswana's independence in 1966.
Electoral system At the time of the elections the 63 members of the National Assembly were divided between 57 MPs elected in single-member constituencies by first-past-the-post, four members appointed by the governing party, and two ex-officio members (the President and the Speaker).Botswana IFES
Voters had to be Botswana citizens at least 18 years old who had been resident in the country for at least 12 months prior to voter registration. People declared insane, holding dual citizenship, under a death sentence, convicted of an electoral offence or imprisoned for at least six months were not allowed to vote.Electoral system IPU Candidates had to be Botswana citizens at least 21 years old, without an undischarged bankruptcy, and had to be able to speak and read English sufficiently well to take part in parliamentary proceedings.
While there were variations in the names and borders of the constituencies, their number remained constant. This marked the first time, since Botswana's independence, that three consecutive elections were held with the same number of constituencies.
Campaign The campaign was marred by the death of Motswaledi in a car accident on 30 July 2014. Although there was some speculation about the incident being politically motivated, the police force concluded that the death was an accident. The opposition accused the Khama government of becoming increasingly authoritarian and successfully attracted a diverse group of young voters who disapproved of the government's economic management. Mindful of the growing discontent, Khama responded with a platform promising change, while highlighting the country's relatively strong economic performance compared to other nations around the world during the global recession.Botswana ruling party wins national election Al Jazeera, 26 October 2014
Aware that it faced an unprecedented challenge, the Botswana Democratic Party conducted an intensive campaign aimed at appealing to rational voters. They acknowledged the problems affecting a significant portion of the population but attributed these difficulties to the global economic situation, committing to change course. Their manifesto, released in April 2014, defended the party's track record in government, highlighting that Botswana had been one of the world's poorest countries before independence but had since improved comparatively to other states in the region. It also emphasized recent government achievements in technology and housing programs. Furthermore, they promised to launch a new project, the Integrated Support Program for Arable Development (ISPAAD), designed to support subsistence farmers and ensure food security in the country. ISPAAD faced criticism from opponents due to its perceived high cost and populist nature. The battle of the manifestoes 2014, Sunday Standard, 15 June 2014
The manifesto intentionally remained vague on labour issues, likely to avoid worsening the strained relationship with labour unions, simply stating that the party would "continue to foster harmonious relations between all stakeholders in the labour market." In response, BOFEPUSU aggressively criticized the manifesto, accusing Khama of presenting an overly optimistic picture and labeling the ruling party's claim of establishing harmonious labour relations as "a blatant lie." The BDP also faced criticism for its focus on educational matters, as it only pledged to allocate more funds to education, despite growing concerns about the precarious state of the country's education system. The BDP intensified its criticism of opposition parties and promoted the symbolism of showing a "red card" (referring to both the football penalty and the ruling party's colours) so as to "remove the opposition from the game." BDP 2014 Manifesto, a political Father Christmas Guardian Sun, 15 April 2014 Ditshwanelo Elections
The Umbrella for Democratic Change released a 38-page manifesto in which they strongly questioned the Khama government, accusing it of becoming increasingly authoritarian and economically irrational. As an alternative, the UDC proposed an extensive program of social, political, and economic reforms. Institutionally, they proposed establishing a stronger parliamentary system by separating the roles of the head of state and the head of government, reinstating the position of prime minister that had been abolished after independence. They also pledged to enhance the powers of local councils and move toward a more decentralized democracy. In terms of labour relations, the coalition strongly criticized the situation under the Khama government and promised to maintain cordial relations with labour unions and listen to their demands if they came to power. Regarding education, the UDC proposed improving teachers' working conditions, upgrading educational infrastructure, making preschool education compulsory, and ensuring youth access to tertiary education. Despite attempting to gain support by emphasizing the labour movement's discourse and the 2011 strike's spirit, the UDC manifesto focused more on criticizing the institutional situation under the BDP government than on workers' rights. They did address housing issues, promising audits through a public-private partnership and purchasing land from urban and other landowners to address land shortages.