The advent of self-rule saw Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) leader Seretse Khama become Botswana’s first Prime Minister after his party won a landslide victory (around 80%) in the elections. As Prime Minister, Seretse Khama was head of government and reported to the British Governor, who was the head of state. This dispensation ended in 1966 when Botswana achieved full independence and Seretse Khama assumed the position of head of state or president. In 1969, Botswana held its second single-member general elections, the first since regaining its independence. Although the result was a big victory for the BDP, which won 24 of the 31 elected seats, its vote share, at 68 percent, was down from the roughly 80 percent it received in the previous vote. Furthermore, compared to the previous poll, there was a significant drop in the total number of citizens who went to the polls. Seventy-seven candidates presented themselves in the election. The BDP fielded a full list of 31 candidates, while the Botswana National Front (BNF), which was running for the first time, had 21.

The Botswana People’s Party (BPP) had 15 and the Botswana Independence Party (BIP) had nine. There was only one independent candidate. The BDP was led by Seretse Khama, the BPP by Philip Matante and the BIP by Motsamai Mpho. In this election, Kgosi Bathoen II Gaseitsewe of the BNF defeated Vice President Ketumile Masire in Kanye, allowing the latter to return to Parliament as a specially elected member. The first time the BDP experienced a serious electoral decline was in 1994. The BNF tripled its presence in Parliament by winning 13 parliamentary seats, including all four in the capital, Gaborone. At the time, the party was riddled with factions between Barata Phathi led by party president the late Peter Mmusi and general secretary Daniel Kwelagobe on the one hand, and the Big Five led by the late Lt. Gen. Mompati on the other Merafhe. The BDP treated the decline in its election results as a defeat, as it was not used to having such a large number of MPs in opposition. Despite declarations of unity and peace within the party, factionalism persisted within the BDP.

Former President Masire’s inability to unify the party was one of the reasons why he had to retire from the party leadership in 1998, after 18 years as president. It was precisely because of divisions within the party that Masire’s successor, Festus Gontebanye Mogae, recruited Ian Khama from the Botswana Defense Force (BDF), as a foreigner who had supporters because he was Kgosikgolo from one of the largest tribes in the country. the country, as vice president when he took office in 1998. In 1999, Mogae led the BDP to the general elections. Although the schism within the party persisted, Mogae managed to turn around the party’s electoral fortunes, mainly through the split that occurred within the main opposition party, the BNF, giving birth to the Botswana Congress Party (BCP). . The results were as follows: BDP: 33; BNF; 6; BCP: 1. The BDP went through the 2004 elections while the BNF was regrouping and the BCP was experiencing teething problems.

The results of these elections constitute a resounding victory for the ruling party. The results were as follows: BDP: 44; BNF: 12, and BCP: 1. The number of constituencies increased from 40 to 57. In 2008, Mogae’s second term ended and gave way to Ian Khama. Even with Khama as party leader, factionalism within the BDP was still rampant. Factions continue to mutate depending on circumstances. By this time, the Big 5 had been replaced by the A team led by Merafhe and Jacob Nkate. Khama’s heavy-handed tactics to suppress divisions within the party have aggravated the situation and generated antipathy towards him. His differences with some members of his party, notably some members of the party’s central committee, led to the dissolution which resulted in the formation of the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) in 2010. Before the formation of the BMD, Khama had just leading the BDP was victorious in the 2009 general elections. It was a whitewash: the BDP got 45 seats in Parliament, the BNF 6, while the BCP got 4 and the Botswana Alliance Movement ( BAM) got 1 and an independent. Building on this victory, Ian Khama is trying to tighten his grip on the party.

In 2009, the BDP elected a new leadership collective at its national congress. A new generation of leaders, mainly Young Turks, including the late Gomolemo Motswaledi, Wynter Molotsi, Kabo Morwaeng and others, were elected to the highest positions in the party’s Central Committee. Apparently, Khama wanted none of this. He had his favorite candidates who were unsuccessful in Congress. He then frustrated these young people and made it difficult for them to work, to the point that Motswaledi was suspended from the party. Motswaledi and others decided to break away from the BDP and formed the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) in 2010.

The inaugural congress of the BMD was held on May 2, 2011, at which the late Gomolemo “Sir G” Motswaledi was elected as its first leader. Botsalo Ntuane, then MP for the Gaborone West-South constituency and leader of the opposition in Parliament, assumed the role of party vice president. As fate would have it, in 2011, Khama faced a long strike by civil servants that paralyzed the country’s services. The strike solidified the bonds and solidarity between all public service unions. The unions received sympathy from other non-public sector unions and from certain sections of the general public and the working class in particular, including non-unionized workers. The unions then entered into a strategic alliance with the new opposition parties with a view to providing them with material, financial and other support, and with the sole aim of defeating the BDP in the next elections in 2014. The condition of the unions was that the opposition parties should unite and work together. This is how the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) was born. At the time the elections took place, the UDC included the BNF, BMD and Botswana BPP. The strategy produced results. Khama ate a modest pie. The BDP experienced the worst electoral decline in its history. For the first time in Botswana’s electoral history, the BDP’s popular vote fell below 50%.

The ruling party obtained 46.5%, the UDC 30% and the BCP 20.4%. In terms of parliamentary seats, the ruling party obtained 37 seats in parliament, the UDC 17 and the BCP 3. And then came the 2019 general elections when Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi, against all odds, cleared the field with the opposition as the BDP raced to victory with 38 seats in parliament, UDC with 15; Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF), 3, and one for the Alliance for Progressives (AP). The BPF was a split from the BDP, being a new party led by former President Ian Khama. The BDP popular vote rebounded above 50%, 52.6% to be precise.

The BDP’s emphatic victory was attributed to antipathy towards Khama, seen as someone who wanted to “rule from the grave”.