Dijeng enters BDP race
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Thursday April 16, 2015 12:24
Other people confirmed to be eyeing the seat include Dithapelo Tshotego, greenhorn MP Biggie Butale and former cabinet ministers Ramadeluka ‘Ndelu’ Seretse and Tebelelo Seretse.
Yesterday, Dijeng told Mmegi that he started thinking about joining the race last December and made his decision known early this year. He feels the ruling party needs younger leaders who have been in the trenches for a long time. “The chairmanship needs someone who is active and able to tour all constituencies to revive party structures. The chairman should be able to work hand in hand with the president to ensure that party strategies are put in place. Remember the party cannot apply its strategies effectively if its structures have collapsed. My aim would be to revive the BDP and find out where things could have gone wrong,” Dijeng said. He asserted that it must be admitted that the party did not do well in last year’s general elections and solutions must be hammered out.
He said BDP need to come up with strategies to attract youth and win some of the opposition held constituencies. “The BDP is losing youth to opposition parties because they are not attracted to what we are offering. It is important to market our programmes to them. Again it looks like people do not understand our message clearly,” he said.
Dijeng stated he is fit to be BDP chairman because he had served more than eight years in various party sub-committees including that of finance. Although Dijeng does not have a lobby list currently, he does not rule out the possibility that he may draw up one. “One thing that we should appreciate now is that people who want the chairmanship are not aligned like before. The dynamics of campaigns are changing every day and probably I would end up having a lobby list,” he said.
He believes the BDP congress should be peaceful since their objective is to win 2019 elections with massive numbers.