Direct election of President: Wrong prescription

Batswana go to the polls this October
Batswana go to the polls this October

Parliament has, through the adopted motion by Member of Parliament, Polson Majaga, triggered a debate on the direct election of the President of the Republic of Botswana. It is not a new notion; it must be said.

The opposition has always had it among its electoral reform requisitions, which it believes would improve the nation’s democracy outlook. The ruling BDP on the other hand, only helped to pass the motion, not out of any known noble principle, but to illuminate its current egoistic factional standoff.

Although the call for direct election predates the constitutional amendment enabling automatic succession and the sequential evoking of executive powers by the immediate past president, it is the latter two that actually irked the conscience of many people.  The appreciation of the need to do something about the Constitution was therefore inflated and hence the likely risk of throwing the baby out with the bath water.

Editor's Comment
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