13th Parliament of Botswana
The 13th Parliament of Botswana is the current meeting of the National Assembly, the unicameral legislature of the Parliament of Botswana. Its membership was determined by the results of the 2024 general election. It began on 6 November 2024 following the 30 October 2024 general election and will end in or before November 2029 to trigger the next election.
The Parliament was elected using first-past-the-post voting. The Parliament has 61 elected members, an increase of four members, compared to the 12th Parliament, following the 2022 seat redistricting cycle, marking the first time since the inauguration of the 9th Parliament that the number of elected members has risen.
Background
2024 general election
The 2024 general election was held on 30 October. The official opposition Umbrella for Democratic Change won 36 seats in the election, an increase of 28 seats and the first time in history that a party other than the Botswana Democratic Party won an election. The Botswana Congress Party, got 15 seats, an increase of 8. The Botswana Patriotic Front won 5 seats, an increase of 1 seat. The ruling BDP was reduced to a rump of 4 seats after losing a total of 34 seats. Whilst Edwin Dikoloti of Goodhope-Mmathethe, garnered a seat as an independent candidate, the second time Parliament has had an elected independent since Nehemiah Modubule of Lobatse constituency in 2009.Botswana general election results
Seat distribution
The table below lists the distribution of the 69 seats by party in the National Assembly.This table shows the number of MPs in each party:
Members
This is a list of the 61 elected members and the 6 specially-elected members of the 13th Parliament of Botswana.Membership changes
The 13th Parliament of Botswana stands out as unique among all its predecessors, as it is the first in which Members of Parliament have been prohibited from crossing the floor for the entirety of its term. This follows the enactment of a 2020 law that formally banned floor-crossing.As a result, changes in parliamentary membership during this period are limited solely to resignations, expulsions and deaths.
The table below outlines the membership changes that have occurred in the 13th Parliament.