Vacancy in office of President

(1) Whenever the President dies, resigns or ceases to hold office, the Vice-President shall assume office as President with effect from the date of the death, resignation or ceasing to be President. (2) If the office of President— ( a ) becomes vacant in circumstances in which there is no Vice-President; or ( b ) is vacant whilst the Vice-President is absent from Botswana or is, by reason of physical or mental infirmity unable to perform the functions of his or her office, the functions of the office of President shall, until such time as a new President assumes office in accordance with this section or section 32 of this Constitution, be performed by such Minister as the Cabinet shall appoint. For the purposes of this subsection, a certificate of the Chief Justice that the Vice-President is by reason of physical or mental infirmity unable to discharge the functions of his or her office, shall, in respect of any period for which it is in force, be conclusive and shall not be questioned in any court. (3) Any person performing the functions of the office of President by virtue of subsection (2) of this section shall not exercise the power of the President to revoke the appointment of Vice-President or to dissolve Parliament. (4) If the office of President becomes vacant, the National Assembly shall, unless Parliament is dissolved, and notwithstanding that it may be prorogued, meet on the seventh day after the office of President becomes vacant, or on such earlier day as may be appointed by the Speaker, and shall elect a person to the office in such manner as is prescribed by the next following subsection and, subject thereto, by or under an Act of Parliament. (5) In an election of a President under this section— ( a ) the Speaker shall preside at the meeting and conduct the election; ( b ) a person may be a candidate if and shall not be a candidate unless he or she has been nominated as a candidate with his or her consent prior to the sitting of the National Assembly at which the election takes place, by not less than 10 Members of the National Assembly entitled to vote in that election; ( c ) at the election every Member of the Assembly except the Speaker shall be entitled to vote; ( d ) the votes of the Members of the Assembly who are entitled to vote shall be given by ballot in such manner as not to disclose how any particular Member voted, and any person who receives the votes of more than one half of the total number of persons entitled to vote shall be declared elected as President; ( e ) a person elected as President under this section shall assume the office of President on the day upon which he or she is declared to be elected; ( f ) not more than three ballots shall be taken unless in the opinion of the Speaker the holding of further ballots is likely to result in the election of a President, in which case not more than two further ballots may be taken; ( g ) only one ballot shall be taken at any sitting of the Assembly, and the Speaker may adjourn the meeting at which a second or subsequent ballot is to be taken for such number of days (in addition to the days on which and to which the meeting is adjourned), not being more than two, as he or she thinks fit; ( h ) if there is no candidate duly nominated for the first ballot in accordance with paragraph ( b ) or if after the number of ballots permitted under paragraph ( f ) have been taken no candidate has been declared elected Parliament shall stand dissolved or, in the case of a Presidential election held in accordance with section 32(6) of this Constitution, the foregoing general election shall be void. (6) No business other than the election of a President shall be transacted at a meeting of the National Assembly under subsection (4) of this section or under section 32(6) of this Constitution and such a meeting or any sitting thereof shall not be regarded as a meeting or sitting of the Assembly for the purposes of any other provision of this Constitution. (7) At any time when the office of Speaker is vacant or the holder of that office is unable by reason of absence or illness to exercise the functions vested in him or her by this section and section 32(6) of this Constitution, those functions may be exercised by the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly or, if there is no Deputy Speaker or the Deputy Speaker is unable by reason of absence or illness to exercise those functions, by such member of the Assembly (not being the President or Vice-President or a Minister or Assistant Minister) as the Assembly may elect for that purpose.