Tawele withdraws primary election protest
Chakalisa Dube | Tuesday May 20, 2014 14:25
Tawele lost the tightly contested primary elections, which booked candidacy for the general elections, against Vain Mamela on May 3. Tawele later protested the primaries citing irregularities, in the process, writing to the party demanding a re-run of the primary elections.
However, yesterday in an interview with Mmegi the former Ipopeng ward councillor said that after thorough introspection he decided against pursuing his protest. “The situation in the party in the constituency is so volatile I felt that my protest will make things worse. In short my decision not to continue with the protest was taken in the interest of the party. “I have however recommended to the party some of the things that need to be improved with regards to how the party primaries are run to ensure fairness. I will try my luck at the primaries again in 2019,” Tawele said.
He would not go into detail when pressed to discuss further the reasons he chose to withdraw his appeal, except to say it was confidential.
Tawele said that he was prepared to help Mamela win the general elections against the Botswana Movement for Democracy’s (BMD) Wynter Mmolotsi and Botswana Democratic Party’s (BDP) Sylvia Muzila. “We might have differed over some things, but it is normal in any political setting. It does not mean I cannot work with him for the good of the party. I will be glad to assist Mamela wherever I can to win the polls,” he said.
Yesterday the party’s Francistown region chairperson Samuel Moribame confirmed that Tawele has withdrawn his protest against the primary election results.
“Tawele withdrew his protest letter late last week though I cannot go into detail as to why he chose to withdraw because it will be against the rules of the party,” Moribame told Mmegi.
Some of the reasons Tawele protested were that most of the voters according to him were denied the opportunity to vote in the primaries because they possessed expired BCP membership cards though they appeared on the voters’ roll.
His view was that as long as they appeared on the voters’ roll, they should be allowed to cast their vote regardless of their expired cards.
He also said that Mamela was using posters to campaign for the primary elections, which is against the party regulations. This to some extent, he said, disadvantaged him.