BDP primaries: The moving goal posts
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Monday June 10, 2024 07:53
The BDP secretary-general, Kavis Kario, said the party is confident in its timeline and progress, emphasising that campaigning efforts have been continuous. But, it goes without saying that postponing the primaries incessantly as the BDP has been doing might cause problems for the party. Kario noted that the BDP is following a strategic plan, details of which are known only to the party central committee (CC). “The party is mandated to adjust its strategies every election year, provided they align with the party constitution. Again, the constitution does not specify any particular dates or months for these changes, but the CC has its own reasons for setting specific timelines,” Kario said in an interview on Wednesday. He urged members to trust their leaders and the party's strategies, emphasising that without effective strategies, the party is likely to lose the elections. Additionally, he pointed out that every election year, various parties, not just the BDP, introduce new tactics.
He acknowledged that new developments are not easily welcomed, but he assured that members will soon adapt to them. Kario said the structures are still making corrections to memberships on voters roll, which is expected to be completed soon. On issues of appeal, Kario said the appeals are done within seven days after announcement of the results and they are also heard by the Appeals Board within the same time.
He continued: “Therefore, the appeals can be done within three weeks. Those who have lost elections will be given counselling so that they could also be able to work with others. These are usually individual cases, not the whole constituency.” However, the BDP constitution under primary election timing article 12 says in the event of any person claiming of their candidature having been prejudiced by any alleged irregularities in the carrying out of these regulations or by any alleged improper conduct, they shall have the right to appeal to the regional committee, except in cases where the regional committee is an interested party in which case the appeal shall be lodged with the central committee. It also states that any appeals arising from the conduct of a primary election shall be lodged in writing not more than seven days after the primary election date and only provided that the appellant shall have verbally indicated to the presiding officer/returning officer his intention to appeal and the reasons for such appeal. Additionally, the notice of appeal shall set fourth clearly and in detail, the irregularities alleged to have been committed, and/or the reasons for his/her compliant. Again, the constitution gives anyone who is not happy with the decision of the regional committee to appeal to the CC committee within seven days of the decision of the regional committee being made known to him/it. Kario added that primary elections will be held in one weekend just like what happens during general elections. When asked if the BDP has enough time to campaign, the SG emphasised that the party has been campaigning for a while. He noted that the party president is holding star rallies in various regions and constituencies to spread the party's message.
Furthermore, he stated: 'As I mentioned earlier, our approach this time is different. This is not the usual campaign the media and the public are accustomed to. We are serious about increasing our popular vote.' Kario said the reason why they are holding star rallies in Palapye and Serowe, it is for mobilisation and recruitment of new members.
The party SG said the party did not perform well during the 2019 General Election, therefore the BDP is going all out in those areas to reclaim them. Kario also said the other reasons why they are going to Serowe is for them to re-energise some of the members who have not been active, so that they start to be active. He said the central region has been the BDP stronghold since independence. In addition, he said the other objective which they want to achieve is for the party President Mokgweetsi Masisi’s message to be heard.
Meanwhile, political analyst Lesole Machacha said it is worrisome that the BDP has not yet held primary elections and that the date has not been announced. “The BDP knows crisis management unlike other parties. What is worrying is that their delay may affect general elections. Again, it does not give even the candidates time to budget or prepare for elections. This might have a negative impact on the party if not calculated well,” Machacha warned in an interview. On the issue of instability, he said he believes the BDP knows how to deal with primary election disputes well and its members are disciplined.