ZESN report on Botswana elections

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network, comprising thirty Zimbabwe based civic society groups with a mission of promoting democratic elections in Zimbabwe had the occasion to be invited to observe the just concluded Botswana General elections. 

ZESN sent a small team comprising seven observers drawn from the network but largely including the National Association of Societies for the Care of the Handicapped. 

One of the objectives of the mission was to explore how thriving democracies deal with the issue of disability in promoting inclusion and participation in elections in the hope that a more comprehensive and informed advocacy strategy could be developed for Zimbabwe in the current constitutional reform process. The team arrived in Botswana 4 days before the election and received accreditation the next day.

Methodology

The mission conducted desk research on the background information about the country since the mission would not have enough time for pre-election observation to inform any findings and conclusions. 

The team also held a training workshop for new observers from the network and also conducted interviews with people with an appreciation of the politics of Botswana here in Zimbabwe.

On arrival in Botswana, several meetings with electoral stakeholders were conducted and these included the following;

• The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC)
• The 3 major political parties (BDP, BCP and BNF)
• Electoral Commissions Forum of SADC
• SADC
• SADC Council of NGOs
• The Botswana Council of NGOs (BOCONGO)
• Botswana Election Support Network (BESNET)
• Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA)
• Botswana Council for the Blind

Each member of the team was then assigned to a particular constituency and these constituencies were chosen based on the competitiveness of the contest looking at the support each of the parties was perceived to enjoy by political analysts.  The constituencies were also selected on the basis of proximity to Gaborone owing to logistical challenges. 

The following constituencies were selected;
1. Gaborone Central
2. Gaborone North
3. Gaborone South
4. Gaborone West North
5. Kgatleng East
6. Kgatleng West
7. IEC Election Centre

The team managed to observe the polling day and the counting at the Kgatleng East constituency center at Molife School near Mochudi.  Counting was concluded after 24 hours of the closure of polling stations.

OBSERVATION

Parties

All parties represented in Botswana’s previous parliament contested the election: the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), the Botswana National Front (BNF) and the Botswana Congress Party (BCP).

The BDP fielded a candidate in each of the 57 constituencies. Its leader, President of Botswana Ian Khama, was not a candidate, but Vice-President of Botswana Mompati Merafhe defended his seat in Mahalapye West. However Ian Khama was a presidential candidate together with Otsweletse Moupo of the BNF together with Gilson Saleshando of the BCP.  The BDP has won every election in Botswana since independence, and aimed for a 10th victory in a row.

BNF leader Otsweletse Moupo was not running as a parliamentary candidate either. He had intended to defend his parliamentary seat for Gaborone West North, but lost the BNF primary election there. It was speculated that he would try to get his party’s nomination in Gaborone South, but Moupo has stated that he will not run at all.

In the 2004 election, Moupo stood for election in Selebi-Phikwe West, but lost to BDP candidate Kavis Kario. He was elected into parliament for Gaborone West North in a 2005 by-election, held after the death of BNF MP Paul Rantao.

The BCP allied with the Botswana Alliance Movement (BAM), and they supported each other’s candidates. BCP-BAM fielded candidates in 36 constituencies BCP leader Gilson Saleshando stood for election in Selebi-Phikwe West, a constituency previously held by BDP candidate Kavis Kario.

Voter Registration

A massive voter registration exercise was conducted in the run up to the election.  A record 725 000 people registered to vote and the turnout was largely attributed to voter education by the IEC and other civic groups including the media.  First time voters constituted nearly 30% of the registration indicating an unprecedented interest in elections by the youth of Botswana. 

There were not reports of significant disenfranchisement through voter registration throughout the country. One of the major challenges to voter registration was however noted as double registration.  It was discovered on polling day that some names appeared more than once in the voters’ roll resulting in the affected voters being turned away. 

While the numbers of those turned away have been minimal, the issue raises a lot of questions about the accuracy of the registration exercise. Positive though, was the fact that all political parties were furnished with the electronic version of the voters’ roll well in advance of the poll to carry out their own analysis and for use on election day in the polling stations.

Access to the Media

While there were complaints that the state media, particularly the Botswana Television, was biased towards the ruling party, there were attempts to ensure that the station covered all events of the contesting parties without bias.  It was alleged that the CEO of the station had actually suspended normal programming to explain the intra-party squabbles within the ruling BDP when the president had issued a statement noting the internal problems. 

Other political parties felt that their rallies were adequately covered by the state media and it was explained that the station tried to cover as many rallies as was possible but could not owing to few cameras and personnel. 
However the prevalence of independent radio stations and newspapers exposed the opposition parties to have access to the media and state newspapers provided a balanced coverage of all political activities regardless of party affiliation. 

Apart from marketing political parties and carrying their messages, balanced debates were carried out live on the state television even though one pitting the presidential candidates penciled for the eve of the election failed to live up to its billing after the BDP presidential candidate failed to attend.

Participation

While most Batswana registered to vote had the opportunity to, including those in the diaspora, there were challenges around accessing of votes for polling officials and police officers to be on duty on Election Day.  The explanation given was that the ballots prepared for their voting had errors and so they could not cast their votes. 

Although there were assurances that they would be able to vote before election day, they did not manage to do so.  Subsequently nearly 1000 polling officials decided to withdraw from their duties on polling day so that they could cast their vote in the constituencies in which they were registered. 

There was also a threat that some of the police officers assigned to provide security on election day had also threatened to withdraw their service ahead of the election so that they could vote but fears of lack of security at polling stations on the election day were allayed by the Assistant Police Commissioner who highlighted that the police could not withdraw their service on the day.

Another challenge to the issue of participation was the fact that election day was not declared a public holiday and so there were exams penciled for the day and it meant that students and invigilators would be deprived of their vote.  Attempts to have the students and invigilators vote in advance were not successful and they too lost their right to vote.

Interestingly enough, Botswana has a population of 1,7 million people and only 725 000 eligible voters so the noted disenfranchisement had the potential of affecting the results of the election.

Use of State Resources

While there were allegations that the BDP continued to enjoy access to state resources in campaigning, these were not too pronounced.  The issue of incumbency in relation to the use of state resources and media in electioneering will always be a cause for concern but the extent to which it disadvantages other contestants should be the real concern. 

Opposition political parties were not too concerned about that issue although there has been ongoing debate on political party financing to allow for equal political participation by all Batswana.

Election Administration

The election management body was very efficient in dealing with elections stakeholders.  They were accessible to everyone and conducted themselves in a transparent manner.  However on election day, their activities in the polling stations were largely slow and ineffective.  It took an average of three and a half minutes for each voter to cast their two ballots as a lot of time was spend explaining the voting process to the voter and verifying the voters’ identity.

Furthermore the counting process was too long as ballots were taken out of the polling stations to counting centers for the parliamentary election and local government election respectively.  It would have been faster had counting ensued at the polling station and results transmitted to constituency centers for collation. 

The verification exercise was particularly long and recounts were conducted to try and account for missing ballots, some of which were erroneously cast in the local government ballot boxes which coincidentally would be in a different counting center. 

However the management of the poll was largely smooth, transparent and credible by democratic standards.

Gender

The mission noted that there were few female candidates in the election, the bulk of them being for local government.  Gender civic bodies also highlighted a concern that while there was a media code of conduct, the media failed to set a gender related agenda to address equal opportunity in election for men and women. 

In terms of polling officials, there was relative equitability in the distributing of men and women.  There was an average three females and all polling stations and each party had at least one female party agent in each of the polling stations.

Botswana general election, 2009

General elections were held in Botswana on 16th October 2009.These were the 10th general elections held since Botswana’s independence in 1966 and she consistently holds elections without any postponement or interruptions.

Electoral system

Parliamentary Elections: Single member plurality, first-past-the-post system multiparty elections.

Presidential Elections: President is elected by each newly elected National Assembly.

Botswana’s parliament has 61 seats, of which 57 are elected using a single-member district plurality system, meaning there are 57 constituencies, each electing a single MP. Four more seats are co-opted and elected MPs vote on who will occupy these.

Conclusion

The mission concluded that despite some challenges during the pre-election period reports of state media bias towards the ruling party, and that election day was not a public holiday, lack of early voting provision for electoral officials  thereby disfranchising eligible voters the elections generally reflected the will of the Botswana people.

It was conducted under a conducive and favorable environment and largely in accordance with the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing the Conduct of Free and fair elections.  The peace that prevailed during the poll is commendable especially considering the challenges that its neighbor, Zimbabwe continues to face to the point of even postponing by-elections fearing the escalation of what has become traditional electoral violence.

The Botswana election provided a shining example of how to conduct acceptable elections for the SADC region and remain a symbol of hope that the region has the capacity to be fully fledged democracies.