The National Assembly is the sole legislative body of Botswana's unicameral Parliament, of which consists of the President and the National Assembly. The House passes laws, provides ministers to form Cabinet, and supervises the work of government. It is also responsible for adopting the country's budgets. It is advised by the Ntlo ya Dikgosi, a council of tribal chiefs which is not a house of Parliament.

Though there were legislative predecessors to the National Assembly during colonial rule, it was not until independence in 1966 that the National Assembly of Botswana officially formed. Since then, there have been consistent multi-party elections and 5 peaceful presidential transitions.

Currently, there are 65 total members of the National Assembly. Voters in single member constituencies directly elect 57 of these members for a term of 5 years through a plurality (or first-past-the-post) system. Six members, meanwhile, are nominated by the President and elected by the assembly. Finally, the remaining two (the President and Speaker of the National Assembly) are ex officio.

Despite the presence of consistent elections, the National Assembly has not escaped criticism. In every election since the founding elections in 1965 until 2024, the Botswana Democratic Party won a majority of seats in the legislative body. Additionally, political science scholars have sometimes expressed concern about the National Assembly because of its few women MPs and its interconnectedness with the executive.

The National Assembly of Botswana is part of the legislative branch of Botswana's National Government and thus has the primary role of debating and passing bills. Always constituting the National Assembly are 57 members elected by voters from single-member constituencies. Along with these elected members are also six members nominated by the President and specially elected to their positions by the National Assembly. Finally, there are also up to two ex-officio members - one of which is always the President. Originally, the purpose of the specially elected members was to create representation in the National Assembly for minority groups of the country. Later, the MPs would typically reserve these spots for people with sought-after skills. More recently, however, the specially elected seats have primarily served as a way for the majority party to increase its number of seats in the assembly.

Among the members of the National Assembly are also a Speaker, a Deputy Speaker, and a Leader of the Opposition. Though the Speaker is often a member of the National Assembly, the MPs do not have to fill this role with another MP. As a result, when the MPs elect a speaker from outside the governing body, the Speaker becomes the 65th member of the National Assembly. If desired, two-thirds of the members can vote to remove the Speaker. Furthermore, along with being members of the National Assembly, some MPs are also part of the President's Cabinet. At any given moment, there are 26 Cabinet ministers in the National Assembly - 8 of whom are assistant ministers. In other words, 42% of the National Assembly is also part of the President's Cabinet.

In general, the main purpose of the National Assembly is to debate and pass bills. Typically, the President introduces bills and members of the Cabinet have the ability to examine them first. Despite this, however, there are a few bills that successfully enter the National Assembly through different pathways. Then, after reaching the National Assembly, a bill must gain a simple majority to pass onwards to the President. Finally, once the President assents to the bill, it passes into a law. Nevertheless, for a bill to become a legitimate law, it cannot contradict the Constitution of Botswana. If a law does go against the Constitution, the judiciary has the right to declare the legislation invalid.

Along with passing bills, the National Assembly also has the power to elect the President. This election does not occur through a vote, but instead by whether or not a party holds a majority in the National Assembly. Since the Parliament of Botswana is a combination of both the National Assembly and the President, the election of the President forms the Parliament. Then, unlike in many parliamentary systems, the President will act as both the Head of State and the Head of Government. Within this role, the President has the power to present legislation, speak, and vote. Additionally, they also have the power to summon, prorogue and dissolve the National Assembly.