Electoral Board's tragedy of errors exposed

Seretse is demanding that the results of the first Bulelwa Ditswe held in that constituency on August 25 be upheld as the legitimate results, a plea that he made even before the re-run that was held two weeks later.

Section 12(b) of the BDP constitution, under Appeals states that if there is any complaint regarding the conduct of the primaries the complaint will be lodged within seven days of the announcement of the results. In the case of Lentsweletau-Mmopane a re-run was ordered without a written complaint from any of the candidates. As if that was not enough, the re-run was ordered by the Electoral Board, a structure of the party which is not mandated to make such a decision. According to clause 12(h) of the party’s constitution the determination that can result in a re-run being declared is the province of the Central Committee. This was not done in the case of Lentsweletau-Mmopane.