BDP hold early primaries at Phillip Matante East
Chakalisa Dube | Tuesday February 16, 2016 15:50
This was revealed in an internal meeting held by the party’s Francistown South branch over the weekend.
The primary elections will be held to select a candidate for the looming Phillip Matante East by-election. The by-election will seek to replace the late Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), former Phillip Matante East councillor Shadreck Nyeku, who passed away last month.
Present at the meeting was the Francistown region leadership and the party secretary general, Botsalo Ntuane.
Ntuane is alleged to have told delegates at the meeting that holding primary elections early will help the party to start campaigning for the by-election on time. Ntuane is also reported to have told delegates that they also have an option of coming up with a single compromise candidate without going to the primaries just like in Sekoma.
At the same meeting, it was then resolved that those who are interested in contesting the primaries should meet and discuss if they should go for a compromise candidate.
Delegates agreed that should parties fail to select a compromise candidate they will vie for the primaries. The parties (interested in primaries) will meet on Wednesday and are expected to inform the party leadership about their final decision on Thursday.
Yesterday Francistown region secretary, Raoboy Mpuang, confirmed that the party will hold the primaries early. “I am not yet certain about the date of the primaries but it will be very early.
“You will understand that the party usually conducts primaries a month before a by-election but that will not be the case. Holding primaries closer to a by-election disadvantages the party because it cannot cover much ground during campaigns,” Mpuang said.
He confirmed that those who attended the meeting resolved that those who are interested should exploit the viability of a compromise candidate for the by-election, failing which they will go for primaries as per the normal practice.
Already a few BDP members are reported to be positioning themselves to challenge for the primaries. A high-ranking party insider said that Kgabinyana Masalila, Elizabeth Morebodi and Ditiro Morebodi are among those who are reportedly positioning themselves to contest the party primaries. Masalila contested and lost the 2014 general elections to Nyeku.