Batswana will vote on Saturday in the eighth general election since their country ceased to be a British protectorate in 1966.
Ringing in their ears will be last-minute promises by the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP). These include improved education and training to enable them to take advantage of jobs created by policies to diversify the economy; improved water supplies and electrification of the rural areas; and gender and tribal equality.
Opposition parties are fighting not to win — they have conceded that is not possible — but to unify a fragmented opposition that they hope will strengthen over the life of the next Parliament.
Their spokespersons say the effect on poll results of leadership squabbles has been made worse by the Westminster ”first-past-the-post” voting system.
In 1999, with 39% of the poll, opposition parties held only 27% of the parliamentary seats; in 1994, with 45% of the poll, they held 32% of the seats.
The squabbles, they say, are now over, but the government has repeatedly refused electoral reform.
The country has a stubborn unemployment problem — 20% of the workforce is seeking work in this diamond-rich country with foreign reserves close to three years’ imports.
”We shall increase the intake at the University of Botswana and establish a second university that will focus on science and technology, and create our own medical school,” President Festus Mogae, also leader of the BDP, said in a pre-election statement on Thursday.
There will also be new technical colleges.
Electrification of the rural areas stands at 70%. The target is 100%, as it is with the provision of water, now at 66%.
Mogae also promised amendments to the Constitution to ensure that tribal minorities will rank equally alongside major tribes.
Appealing to women voters, he promised gender equality will be reflected in the country’s legislation.
”We will amend the Constitution to ensure its text is fully neutral in terms of both tribe and gender. We will eliminate all other laws which discriminate on the basis of gender,” Mogae said.
Independence came to Bechuanaland with Seretse Khama, later to be knighted, as the founding father and first president.
Khama had led the BDP to victory in 1965 in a pre-independence election, and he and his successors Ketumile Masire (also knighted) and Festus Mogae have kept the party in power since then. It is experiencing what many see as the first serious threats to its leadership.
Six opposition parties have put 121 candidates in the field to contest 56 seats. Vice-President Seretse Khama Ian Khama, constitutionally in line for the presidency in 2008, is unopposed.
Three of the opposition parties are in the Botswana Alliance Movement (BAM), also known as the Pact, which will contest 54 seats.
Leader Lepetu Setshwaelo has no stars in his eyes about victory this time round.
He aims to unify the members of his alliance — the BAM itself, the grassroots long-standing opposition party Botswana National Front and the Botswana People’s Party.
Previous attempts to unify opposition parties have failed, acrimoniously, but Setshwaelo dismissed any fears of cracks in the alliance this time.
”It is holding very, very well, very tightly,” he said on Friday.
The BDP believes the key to trouncing the opposition will be a high voter turnout — and things seem to be going that way.
Voter registration is up 20% to 552 890 — this equates to 61,4% of the estimated 900 000 voting-age population against 57,5% of 1999’s voting-age population.
Percentage polls in Botswana are traditionally high; last year’s was 81,7%.
Elections are based on universal adult suffrage with a voting age of 18 years.
The final result of the election is expected on Monday, with a clear indication late on Sunday. The new president will be inaugurated on the steps of the House of Assembly on Tuesday.
He is not popularly elected and does not represent any constituency, but is de facto the leader of the party that wins the election.
On November 15, Parliament will open and the president will deliver the annual State of the Nation address. — Sapa