VOLUME 6 NO 1 91 OPPOSITION PARTY ALLIANCES AND ELECTIONS IN BOTSWANA, LESOTHO AND ZAMBIA Victor Shale Victor Shale is a Researcher at EISA and EISA’s Political Parties Programme Coordinator. He is also a Doctoral Candidate in the Department of Political Science of the University of South Africa P O Box 740 Auckland Park 2006 Tel: +27 011 482 5495; Fax: +27 011 482 6163 e-mail:
[email protected] ABSTRACT The Southern African Development Community has made significant democratic progress since the 1990s following a wave of ferocious internal conflicts, as in Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In order for the achievements to be sustained the region requires viable political parties, which are key role players in a democracy. The majority of the current ruling parties in the SADC region such as the African National Congress, the Botswana Democratic Party, Frente de Libertação de Moçambique (Frelimo), the Lesotho Congress for Democracy, Zambia’s Movement for Multiparty Democracy and the South West Africa People’s Organisation are very powerful, while opposition parties are fragmented and generally weak. However, a trend has developed for opposition parties, having recognised their limitations, to form alliances in order to play a meaningful role. This route has been followed by opposition parties in Botswana, Lesotho and Zambia. On the eve of the recent general elections in Lesotho and Zambia, parties negotiated strategies to maximise their chances of winning. In Botswana the negotiation process is still under way, albeit threatened