Contest for Goodhope-Mabule to be decided by NEC
Oarabile Mosikare | Thursday June 4, 2015 16:09
The BCP secretary general Kesitegile Gobotswang yesterday said the decision on the by-election would be taken by the National Executive Committee (NEC) after extensive consultations with the regional and local leadership. “The item will be on the agenda when NEC meets on Thursday [today]. We are aware that some individual members of the BCP have already publicly expressed their opinions on the matter which are not representative of the party position,” said Gobotswang.
He said on sensitive issues like this the most preferred is the bottom up approach. “In this regard the views of local structures is of paramount importance and must be respected.”
He said their assumption is that Rakgare was speaking on behalf of his constituency. “When the issue is discussed at NEC we expect the youth league to motivate the position they have pronounced on the matter. Our intention is not to stifle internal debates to influence party decisions. Such debates must take place in properly constituted party structures.”
This week Rakgare told a press conference that the party would field a candidate for the position left vacant by the sudden departure of James Mathokgwane of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC). He said they have begun engaging members in the region on fielding the candidate. “After the news broke last week that there is a vacancy, we started engaging the BCP youth and our members in the constituency specifically on what the party should do.
“The consensus is that the BCP should field a candidate. Residents should punish the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) for abandoning the constituency. The Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) should also be punished for failing to address the problems of Batswana,” said Rakgare.
Mathokgwane won the seat for the opposition for the first time during the October general elections. Seven months later, he resigned his Parliament seat to take up a senior management post at Selebi-Phikwe Economic Diversification Unit (SPEDU).