The irate members are reported to have made their position known to area MP Tshelang Masisi at a meeting in Bluetown location recently. According to an inside source, constituents are adamant that they had made the right choice last December and they do not want the exercise to be repeated.
Opponents of the re-run claim that the party central committee that nullified the primary election results on March 8 “has been slow in officially communicating its decision to the constituents”.
Mmegi is reliably informed that detractors base their arguments on a public statement made by President Festus Mogae who praised the BDP primaries held under Bulela Ditswe “as having been a success”. Opponents of the rerun claim it was ordered to favour one of the candidates who lost in the primaries or a section of the party.
“Unless Mogae or someone sent by his central committee could come here and address us as to why they have ordered a re-run of the primaries, then we would boycott them,” stated a source in the Francistown-West constituency. During the primaries, Masisi caused a shock by walloping his high-riding rival and Francistown Mayor, Peter Ngoma by 1042 to 801 votes.
Meanwhile the BDP Francistown West constituency chairman, Enock Zaba Mathanjane has supported the re-run of the primaries. He said that people should go in large numbers to vote a parliamentary hopeful of their own choice.
He was not aware of those who preferred to boycott the primaries. He conceded that he did not attend the meeting at Bluetown. “I can only advice democrats to prepare themselves to go and vote on the set date and the rest of the issues will be resolved in-house,” he said. But he was also worried that the BDP is yet to communicate its decision to the constituency.
