The final lap
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Tuesday October 21, 2014 17:57
The 2014 electioneering comes to an emphatic end at midnight on Thursday.
Political parties are now on overdrive as they make last effort attempts to win undecided voters, poach from other parties and dissuade their own from voting for the other party.
There is no doubt it will be a different election. It is adrenalin-pumping, heart stopping stuff of the moneyed, straight from a Hollywood script.
Who would ever imagine opposition leaders in Botswana flying the length and breadth of the country in chartered helicopters? The president of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) Duma Boko, has taken the lead in this new feat and has shown up unexpected at some of his party’s rallies, wowing many, including supporters of other parties.
The Botswana Congress Party (BCP) president Dumelang Saleshando has also procured himself a chopper and will be doing the same. The two parties have also introduced major bus campaigns. The BCP was the first to introduce a 65-seater bus with a huge smiling Saleshando emblazoned on both sides of the bus. Saleshando has travelled to 53 villages and addressed 101 rallies using the bus.
The UDC brought along four big buses, splashed them with the party’s colours and giant pictures of the president, his deputy, Ndaba Gaolathe and that of the late secretary general Gomolemo Motswaledi.
It is a marketing and public relations strategies never seen before in Botswana. It is calculated. It is convincing and contemporary. And it promises a major shift from the norm.
The election will be a litmus test for the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), which hitherto, has not been challenged in the manner it is being this year.
The BCP especially, started the campaign way back as they worked with the British Labour Party to help strengthen their systems and prepare themselves better for government.
The UDC, particularly in the months leading to the elections has been inviting notable personalities, whose presence could not escape public attention, and used the opportunity to ‘preach’ to the voter.
Early in the year, Boko pulled a big one when his Hollywood star friends, Rick Yune and girlfriend Jennifer Bell, came for a well publicised visit and took to the skies in a chartered helicopter, visiting UDC posts around the country. When it was time for the big launch of the UDC president, the government unwittingly placed the two on the list of people requiring a visa to enter Botswana, and endeared voters to the UDC in the process.
Then, just last week Boko invited former Bulgarian President Petar Stoyanov. The UDC leader appeared unannounced at a rally in Thamaga with Stoyanov in tow.
There have been suggestions the UDC could unveil a most unforgettable personality or strategy in the remaining two days, especially in the tightly contested constituencies. It is a tried and tested strategy used in more developed countries such as the US, something akin to suddenly swooshing down on a community with a jet, and wowing them to the point they beg you to come back and do more stunts.
While to a great extent, the BDP has stuck to its usual campaign strategy of providing constituencies with vehicles – it has 63 vehicles, one for each constituency - it has also utilised advertising space in newspapers.
It has bought bulk cellphone messaging systems. It set up a toll-free call centre for its members. Its president, Ian Khama, also created a Facebook page through which he hopes to keep members within the BDP and to convince those in the opposition to give him and his party another mandate
“The vibe of this election is almost like that of 1994 elections when Botswana National Front won 13 parliamentary seats. For the first time the BDP will be contesting elections after its split which resulted in the birth of Botswana Movement for Democracy. This on its own will show us on how it was affected by its split,” says Botswana Guardian reporter Justice Kavahematui.
He concurs this year’s electioneering has been “out-of-this-world” for Batswana, who over the years have only known the BDP to have the financial muscle to buy vehicles for every constituency, as opposition contenders either trudged on foot, hitchhiked or used their own, usually unsuited and old vehicles.
“The bus campaign has been used in Europe, and not long ago by the opposition in Zimbabwe,” he says.
However, Kavahematui believes the behaviour of party members at the polls will decide how the individual parties fare.
Political commentator Antony Morima agrees the campaign strategies adopted by the three parties will go a long way in deciding who wins. “The parties were organised and had campaign managers for elections, presidential spokespersons and the media was able to follow them because of the solid issues they raised. Their rallies were also able to pull the crowds,” he said.
However the opposition will rue its chances, as it is likely to split votes, for never before has two opposition parties so rigorously and convincingly campaigned. The UDC and BCP practically raise the same issues, and theirs is a question of who leads.
The BDP on the hand will most likely blame its leadership for causing the voter to punish it.
“The issues of the DIS, Kalafatis and others are likely going to affect it negatively.
Though the party was able to contain some in-fighting, the creation of independents in many constituencies is likely to negatively affect it,” says Morima.