Botswana

President Festus Mogae will retire in 2009 after his current term of office. The opposition sees this as an excellent opportunity to wrest power from the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) for the first time since independence. In terms of the overall share of the vote, the last elections were close, but the opposition was denied footing by the first-past-the-post electoral system and an its inability to co-operate. The main opposition Botswana Congress Party (BCP) and the Botswana National Front (BNF) realise that they must work together, and have started fielding a unified single candidate in by-elections, but the

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