Is democracy working when one party rules for 50 years?

The Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) has been ruling the Republic of Botswana for more than 50 years! Can we honestly say the multi-party democratic system of government Batswana subscribe to, is working?

Multi-party democracy implies a government of many parties. The concept that there must be many parties in the Constitution of a democratic government underlines the fact that people by nature have diverse views as to how best they should be ruled. In addition times change and so people change their orientation. Life is not static, but dynamic.

At a BDP seminar in 1983, the late Dr QKJ Masire is reported in these words to define democracy: “Democracy is nothing new in this country. We have always practised it at our Kgotlas. You will know that this democratic concept is implied in the Setswana saying: Mmua-lebe o bua la gagwe… That means everyone has the right to speak his mind. It doesn’t matter how disagreeably you regard his point of view. And at our Kgotla meetings, men and women irrespective of their social standing, contributed to the debates on matters of public interest. We have therefore blended our democratic tradition with the modern political system..”  Democracy at work .. (A Dialogue between Political theory and Practice).

Editor's Comment
Congratulations Anicia Gaothuse!

The contest had 10 beautiful young girls as finalists and unfortunately only one could wear the crown.The judges picked Anicia Gaothuse. To all those who feel their contestant should have won ahead of Anicia for whatever reason, hardly; the judges found Anicia to be the best among the best, so desist from disrespecting our newly crowned queen on social media or anywhere else, for that matter! Each of the 10 beautiful young women had supporters...

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