Parley steps out of the Executive's shadow
Spira Tlhankane | Tuesday July 14, 2026 09:48
Speaking yesterday during a ceremony Botswana has never held before, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Dithapelo Keorapetse and Leader of Opposition (LoO) Dumelang Saleshando hailed the rationale of the official opening of Parliament’s Legislative business being the third meeting of the second session of the 13th Parliament. The Speaker said this inaugural official opening of Parliament's Legislative business represents a deliberate institutional statement that the legislature ought not to be an appendage of the Executive but a co-equal branch of the government, operationally independent and constitutionally empowered.
He emphasised that they were not merely opening a meeting but were opening a new chapter in Botswana's journey of democratic consolidation. Keorapetse added this ceremony required no amendment to Standing Orders, only the will to establish it, which the Leader of the House and the LoO, together with the Office of the Clerk, have shown by making the day possible.
“Twice each year, this Chamber fills for occasions that belong, properly, to the Executive: The State of the Nation Address, in which the President sets the government's programme; and the Budget Speech, in which the Vice President and Minister of Finance account for the nation's finances. Both matter greatly. Neither, however, is Parliament's own occasion. Until today, Parliament had no equivalent moment for its own core function: the making of law,' he said.
'No day on which the Speaker, the Leader of the House, the Leader of the Opposition, the Whips, and the Members who will spend the coming months undertaking their core lawmaking duties stand together and say to the nation, in effect, This is what we intend to do with the authority you gave us, and we intend to be watched while we do it,” Keorapetse said as he directed his remarks to President Duma Boko.
He said Boko have on more than one occasion called on Parliament to be more preoccupied with its core mandate of lawmaking.
“Let today be this House's answer: not a speech about lawmaking, but an institution that opens its legislative meeting the way it opens every other kind of meeting, in public, on the record, before the nation it serves”.
As they made history, Saleshando acknowledged that for the first time, Parliament formally opens its Legislative Meeting, affirming that law-making is at the heart of Botswana’s constitutional mandate under Section 86.
“I hope this ends any perception that this Meeting is secondary to the State of the Nation Address or the Budget Session. I also welcome another important milestone: the Leader of the Opposition addressing this opening. I commend the Speaker for making this a truly inclusive parliamentary occasion, reflecting the vital role that both government and opposition play in our democracy,' he said.
'Parliament is where democracy acquires substance. It is where the aspirations of ordinary citizens are examined, refined and ultimately transformed into law. It is where government is held accountable. It is where national consensus is forged despite political differences. And it is where future generations will judge whether we were faithful stewards of the Republic. The 13th Parliament occupies a unique place in Botswana's history,” he noted.