BCP Won't Contest Serowe North West By-Election

| Monday May 19, 2008 00:00

 

Tshekedi is the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) candidate after Ian presented the constituency on a silver platter to him upon ascending the political ladder as President of Botswana.

The Serowe North West will now be a two-horse race between the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) and the opposition Botswana National Front (BNF). The BCP secretary general Taolo Lucas has indicted that the constituency was discussed at the BCP Central Committee meeting held in Selebi-Phikwe on April 26.

'That, as it is currently demarcated, the BCP has never contested the constituency and very little work in terms of building structures was done after the general election to prepare the constituency for electoral contest. It is only at the beginning of this year that some work was done in the constituency.

'Comrade Motlhatlhobi Keitaile, formerly BNF mayor in Lobatse, with the help of the regional structures in the area, are involved in building the party structures in preparation for the 2009 elections. For the record, Keitaile has indicated interest to contest the constituency in 2009,' said Lucas who is also a University of Botswana (UB) academician.

He asserted that the BCP 2009 general election preparation programme is well underway and participating in the Serowe North West by-election was likely to disrupt the detail, structure and plan of the broader 2009 general election strategy. Lucas reasoned that as everyone would now appreciate, by-elections are demanding both in terms of financial and human resources and it would only be reasonable for them to deploy their resources in tune with their overall general election campaign strategy.

'The BCP is currently engaged in major activities that require greater focus and substantial resources to execute. The activities include 10th anniversary celebrations, Category two primary elections, national tour schedule, launching of candidates in priority constituencies, candidates training programme, policy development exercise and the national congress. The resource constraints we face as a party compel us to prioritise these activities over the Serowe North by-election.'

In view of the foregoing, Lucas disclosed that the BCP has resolved to contest the Serowe North West Constituency only in the 2009 general elections. 'Meanwhile, we encourage our structures to prepare for the same general elections. We will have a limited programme in the constituency that would feature some members of the Central Committee during the time of the by-election.

'On voting day, we encourage our members to vote for the candidate of the Botswana National Front. We hope that this gesture will be appreciated by those who wish to see closer working ties among opposition parties in Botswana,' the Bobirwa parliamentary candidate said.