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Democracy Factfile on Botswana

   Democracy in southern Africa is once more tested as Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Tanzania and Lesotho, go to the polls scheduled between May and the end of the year . Zimbabwe, is expected to hold parliamentary elections in May, while Lesotho's poll, originally scheduled for the same month, has been postponed indefinitely due to disagreements over the electoral model to be used. Tanzania will hold its presider,tial and parliamentary elections in October, while Mauritius will complete the 2000 round of election:; towards the end of the year.

    In Lesotho, Lekhetho Rakuoane, co-chairman of tIle Interim Political Authority (IPA) said, "The IPA composed of representatives of all political parties including the ruling Lesotho Congress of Democracy (LCD), agreed on a three-pronged Constitution Amendment Bill to be approved by parliament."

    The amendments increased the current 80-member parliament to 130 MPs through a mixture of a constituency and proportional representation systems. The other aspects of the amendment related to the appointment of a new electoral commission and the provision for the conduct of general elections.

    However, the present parliament, 79 members of whom belong to the LCD, rejected the IPA approval of the model, and resolved instead that a referendum be held on the proposed amendments. Rakuoane said parliament's decision has created political tensions in the country, which might lead to the collapse of the IP A. "It is highly unlikely that elections will be held this year because of the disagreement of the electoral model. We are likely to experience political instability if elections are not held soon," added Rakuoane.

    The IP A was established as a compromise body to prevent the country from descending into chaos after opposition parties disputed the 1998 electicn results and embarked on a month-long protest outside parliament and the royal buildings. The IP A was sponsored and guaranteed by SADC, following an armed intervention by South Africa and Botswana. In Tanzania, voter registration for the country's elections scheduled for October is to start in June, according to the ministry of foreign affairs.

    The incumbent President Benjamin Mkapa is se~king re-election in a presidential race which is expected to be contested by three other candidates and so far, 13 political parties plan to contest the second multiparty general elections.

    Mauritius, one of southern Africa's oldest multi-party democracies, is expected to hold elections at the end of the year. The ruling Labour Party (LP), whose alliance with the Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM) party helped it win the 1995 election, will have to run alone following a decision by the latter to revert to opposition status. But analysts say each of the three main parties, the LP, the MMM, the Socialist Militant Movement (MSM) were too weak to win the election on their own without forming alliances.

    Meanwhile Zimbabwe's parliament was dissolved on 11 April to pave way for elections expected to be held in May. The elections may be further postponed due to the usually lengthy exercise of defining constituencies which could take up to three months, according to Supreme Court Justice Wilson Sandura, chairperson of the Delimitation Commission.

    Mugabe said that a precise date would be announced once the voters' roll had been updated and constituencies defined.

    Although the Registrar General's Office did not immediately have the total number of people registered, political analysts estimate that at least two million new voters would appear on the roll this year. The current voters roll, also used in the 1995 election, has five million.