1989 Botswana general election

General elections were held in Botswana on 7 October 1989, alongside local elections.[1] The result was the sixth straight landslide victory for the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), which won 31 of the 34 elected seats.[2]

Botswana
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Botswana
Constitution

Background

A referendum on electoral reform had been held in 1987, and resulted in the creation of a Supervisor of Elections, which would be appointed by the government. Both the BDP and the Botswana National Front (BNF) hold primary elections to select candidates.[3]

Campaign

The BNF went into the elections suffering from instability; Bathoen Gaseitsiwe resigned as party leader in 1985 after becoming head of the Customary Court of Appeal. Prior to the elections Bathoen criticised new party leader Kenneth Koma for his left-wing policies, resigned from the BNF and established the Botswana Freedom Party (BFP). The new BFP ran as a nationalist and pro-free market party.[3] The ruling BDP campaigned on its record in government around economic development and political stability.[1]

A total of 91 candidates contested the elections, with the BDP being the only party to field a full slate of 34 candidates. The BNF put forward 31 candidates, the Botswana People's Party 11, the Botswana Independence Party 9, the Botswana Freedom Party 2 and the Botswana Progressive Union and Botswana Liberal Party both had a single candidate.[3]

Results
Party Votes % Seats +/–
Botswana Democratic Party162,27764.7831+2
Botswana National Front67,51326.953–1
Botswana People's Party10,8914.340–1
Botswana Independence Party6,2092.4800
Botswana Progressive Union2,1860.8700
Botswana Freedom Party1,3630.540New
Botswana Liberal Party480.020New
Indirectly elected members––4–
Total250,487100380
Registered voters/turnout367,06968.24––
Source: Inter-parliamentary Union, Nohlen et al.

Aftermath

Following the elections, the BNF claimed that there had been irregularities in the Mochudi constituency, where they lost to the BDP by 29 votes. The High Court ruled in the BNF's favour, resulting in a by-election in June 1990 in which the BDP retained the seat.[3]

gollark: Hmm, that *does* sound like something it might have.
gollark: I was also thinking of adding checksums, but that MAY be pointless.
gollark: I'll just not do that.
gollark: Hmm, fair point, you would benefit from a next header thing more but I can't actually do that.
gollark: The files COULD still be recoverable, however.

References
  1. Elections held in 1989 Inter-Parliamentary Union
  2. Nohlen, D, Krennerich, M & Thibaut, B (1999) Elections in Africa: A data handbook, p113 ISBN 0-19-829645-2
  3. Botswana: The October 1989 General Election EISA
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.