A Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) central committee meeting on Monday resolved to create a framework for the 2014 general elections, Mmegi is informed. In an interview yesterday, the Secretary General of the BDP, Kentse Rammidi, said they met with sub-committees about galvanising the party faithful into the right mood for the elections.
Regarding tactics to fend off the force of a combined opposition after four parties recently announced the formation of a united front for the next elections, Rammidi said the BDP was not threatened by the development. His party was far ahead because while the opposition were still working on an umbrella model for the 2014 elections, “we are intact and are simply preparing for the elections”, he said.
“They have a lot of issues to resolve among themselves and the umbrella that they intend to use at the elections might collapse way before that (2014),” he added.
Reacting to Rammidi’s comments, the Chairman of the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD), Nehemiah Modubule, said the BDP did not understand the umbrella concept. The model did not mean that individual parties stopped functioning; rather, the umbrella was a vehicle for the opposition to use for the elections. Contrary to what the BDP was saying, said Modubule, the ruling party was threatened by the unity of opposition parties, hence it was concentrating its election campaign on opposition-held constituencies.
“Our people in the various political parties are forging ahead with the campaign,” he said. “We can’t just sit back and wait for the umbrella. We must organise people.”
Quizzed on progress in the opposition unity project, Modubule said they are currently preparing to register the umbrella party, though he added that the matter of its name was still under discussion. He revealed that the BMD would officially welcome defecting former BDP councillors at the weekend.
The BMD’s partner in the opposition unity project, the Botswana National Front (BNF), says the masses are disillusioned with the ruling party. “It’s a question of us galvanising this disillusionment of Batswana against BDP misrule,” said the party’s Publicity Secretary, Moeti Mohwasa.
Full Article: Mmegi Online :: BDP considers framework for 2014 elections.