The Botswana Democratic Party (abbr. BDP, colloquially known as Domkrag) is a centre-right political party in Botswana. From the country's inaugural election in 1965 until the 2024 general election the party governed the country without interruption for 58 years. At the time of its defeat, the BDP was the longest continuous ruling party in the democratic world.
The party was founded in February 1962 as the Bechuanaland Democratic Party while the country was a British protectorate. It adopted its current name following Botswana's independence in 1966. In its beginnings, it was led by Seretse Khama, the country's first president and his successor Quett Masire. Subsequent presidents of Botswana, Festus Mogae, Ian Khama and Mokgweetsi Masisi, have chaired the party. The party won an overwhelming majority in the first elections under universal suffrage in 1965, leading Khama to become the first president of the new state, a position he held until his death in 1980. The BDP enjoyed virtually unquestioned hegemony for the next three decades, benefiting from the relative success of its economic policy and its pragmatic management of the relations between the different tribal groups of the country. Beginning in the late 1980s, the country's increasing urbanization and the emergence of a middle class less influenced by tribal relations weakened the BDP's support base and strengthened its opponents, while a growing economic slowdown in the 1990s caused the party to suffer harsh electoral setbacks, leading it to implement numerous reforms in an attempt to avoid exacerbating political polarization in the country. In subsequent elections, the BDP retained power with less support, largely benefiting from the first-past-the-post voting and facing an opposition plagued by constant divisions.
