Moiteela breaks ranks with BDP leaders on �dismal� popular vote

Pini Bothoko | Tuesday March 3, 2015 10:55

Moiteela expressed his misgivings at the region’s elective congress held here at the weekend, where he said the BDP was in trouble and needed immediate attention.

Moiteela was particularly concerned about the lower numbers that voted for the ruling party in last year’s general elections.

The BDP stalwart actually broke ranks with other senior leaders in the party who have said all was well, despite the dismal popular vote the BDP received in the 2014 elections.

Recently, party leader, President Ian Khama said he was unfazed by the party’s low popular vote, despite data indicating that it was the BDP’s worse performance since establishment.

“The 46.7 percent that voted for us does not reflect our support base. We could have swiped those people by 75%. I don’t care about the 46.7% which the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) said we had attained,” he told the BDP National Youth elective congress which was held in Masunga last month.

Khama added that the party’s lower numbers were due to disgruntlement over primaries and not because the opposition was popular. He also accused the opposition of trafficking voters.

However, Moiteela differed with his leader when he said there was a problem in the party. “Unlike some of our party colleagues who see nothing with our party, I smell trouble. The 47 percent that voted BDP in last year’s general elections should worry us. BDP is losing popularity. We have to admit that our party is collapsing, “ he said.

Moiteela said that BDP had lost most of its strongholds and reiterated that this should worry democrats.

He said the way party primary elections were handled was the main reason the party was experiencing the decline.

The regional chairperson conceded that the 2013 Bulela Ditswe primary elections destroyed the party with a number of candidates defecting to join opposition parties or opting to stand as independent candidates.

“Ignoring this and carrying on like there is nothing wrong with it will not be doing justice to our party,” he said.

“About 1,700 people voted for mekoko (independent candidate) in Lerala-Mauntlala constituency and around 4,000 voted another person who had defected from our party in Tonota. This should worry us.”

Moiteela, who was defending the chairperson seat, said that he thought the party should consider following up defectors and inviting them back into the fold. “I think we should swallow our pride and follow them up because those people are important to us. Their numbers have affected the party.

“We registered 41 complaints of Bulela Ditswe in our region, managed to mediate some of the concerned parties but others until today have not come to us as the committee had requested,” he said.

He said that they did not know if those people were still BDP members or not and encouraged the party branches to follow up their disillusioned colleagues before they find new political homes.

The region’s elections were postponed to next weekend after heavy downpours.

Moiteela, nominated councillor Botho Ntirang and Tati East constituency branch chairperson Seabelo Matikiti will slug it out for the top position of regional chairperson.