BCP Has Proved To Be Credible - Raditlhokwa

KOPANO OLESITSE
Correspondent | Monday October 26, 2009 00:00

'What we saw in the BCP was that the leaders of the party proved to be humble to the electorate. The party proved to be stable and organised. The other important thing is that the members, especially the youth, felt a sense of belonging and ownership in the party as they could easily relate to its leaders,' said Raditlhokwa.

He explained that the BCP did not do well in the 2004 general elections because the Botswana National Front (BNF) preached that it (BCP) was a BNF breakaway party.

However, the BCP has since proved itself as an independent entity.

'As a result, a lot of people ended up switching from parties such as the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) and the BNF to the BCP because at this party, they felt accommodated. I'm not surprised with the sudden increase of BCP councillors and MPs because this is one party that has always been in the quest for change,' Raditlhokwa said.

He stated that chances of internal conflict in BCP are low because it is a party formed as a result of internal conflicts. He said the party has learnt a lot from the internal wars in BDP and the BNF.

'The only thing that is left for the BCP is the strong leadership and youth training as a way of preventing internal conflicts. It is very important that the leaders understand that they are servants of the people not bosses,' explained Raditlhokwa.

He commended BDP and President Ian Khama for snatching Gaborone South constituency from the BDP. 'We all know that Gaborone has always been the stronghold of opposition parties, so this must send them a strong message. I also must commend Botsalo Ntuane (BDP MP for Gaborone West South) because he has proved to be one of the effective young politicians determined for change,' he said.

Raditlhokwa added that people like Ntuane are capable and knowledgeable and should have been rewarded with ministerial positions in the new government. 'Even though we saw a lot of young men being elected to Parliament, it is still worrying that young women are left out. The problem is not with the electorate but it emanates from party structures which fail to support and field young women during primaries,' he said.

Raditlhokwa said that the male dominated Parliament is not in line with Vision 2016 which calls for equality. 'We also need young women in Parliament. Both men and women of wisdom must be treated and accepted equally,' he stressed.

He said that Khama is proving to be a very weak leader who relies on retribution. 'I see him to be too weak because his leadership style focuses on punishment, threats and expulsions from the party and government. A strong leader is one who works hard to convince people that he leads and he is not just giving orders,' he explained.

'The thing is that those people that he hurts, they will also hurt him in return. Look at the number of elected independent candidates, who mainly were opposed to his style of leadership,' Raditlhokwa said.