2009 General Election

This is an election year in Botswana - and in several other countries in the region - perfect timing for my research. National Assembly and local government elections will be held some time in October though the exact date (we know it will be a Saturday) has not yet been set. The president is not directly elected in Botswana, much to many people's dismay. Basically whichever party dominates the National Assembly will select the president. In Botswana one party alone has dominated parliament since independence and that is the Botswana Democratic Party, or BDP, though its support has fallen markedly over the years. But the BDP is ever so much better resourced than the two main opposition parties, the Botswana National Front, or BNF, and the Botswana Congress Party, or BCP. That is evident in the billboards all over town and the fancy trucks adorned in BDP slogans and megaphones. By now I have interviewed women politicians from all three parties, leaders of the women's wings of all three parties and (male) leaders of all three parties, many of whom are also candidates for parliament or local council. At this point I am really keen for the election results to see who makes it through. (Dumelang Saleshando is currently the only BCP MP in parliament; he is 'our' MP given that we live in Gaborone Central constituency.)