Factionalism, tribalism cost BDP in Palapye
Onalenna Kelebeile | Wednesday January 25, 2017 16:59
The deep internal differences that rocked the party in the Palapye constituency, in particular the Boikago/Madiba ward, were mainly brought about by the noisy BDP primary elections. In an interview post the weekend by-election, a senior party operative in the Letswapo region could not hide his disappointment at the turn of events.
Gabagopole Sebele, BDP’s Letswapo region chairperson said he was terribly disappointed that the BDP had scored what he calls an own goal. But he was not surprised that they lost the by-election. “We experienced difficult situations during our campaigns. There were serious allegations that some leaders supported Dimeku over Boitshepho Kinnear. After losing, Kinnear’s supporters withdrew their support from the winning candidate and some even de-campaigned the ruling party openly,” he said.
He also observed that tribalism also worked negatively against them in that those from Madiba side felt that the party did not want them to have a representative from their side hence they aligned with the opposition. “They were so furious after Kinnear’s loss. We tried our best to negotiate with them but in vain,” he said. Sebele also observed that Bulela Ditswe primaries also worked against them because losers usually get disgruntled as compared to the opposition that endorsed a candidate.
He added that though not surprised by the loss he had hoped that they would lose with a smaller margin but he is still reeling in shock of a vote difference of 103. He strongly believed that tribalism in Boikago/Madiba remains a serious challenge. “We will however, sit down and introspect further as the ruling party and intensify our campaigns though it will be an uphill battle to win the ward back as a result of tribalism,” he said.
In Boikago/Madiba the BDP has lost a ward that has been a party stronghold for the past 50 years. Moreover, this is a ward that they have comfortably won with a significant margin in the last general elections against Botswana Congress Party (BCP).
The BDP definitely has itself to blame because it chose to watch from the sidelines instead of confronting a problem that was now in the public domain. The ugly skirmishes between the MP Master Goya and a determined branch chairperson, Samuel Maeka was a telling tale of the trouble-torn BDP.
The well-documented fight between the duo is allegedly a product of the Bulela Ditswe primaries’ frustrations. It is common knowledge in Palapye that Maeka supported the primaries’ loser Kinnear whilst Goya supported Dimeku. The BDP’s main undoing is that it watched the Maeka/Goya bitter rivalry fester into hatred.
BDP secretary general Botsalo Ntuane’s firm stance to the media was: “We will deal with any issue, if there is any, after the by-election.” His emphasis was that the BDP had chosen to focus on the by-election, which was already a messy affair. The position he also reiterated in a follow up interview. Definitely, heads are going to roll as the party prepares for the 2019 general elections. But the party leadership should also know that they contributed to the unexpected party loss in Palapye. Regaining the ward might prove difficult if not impossible.
BCP on the other hand capitalised on intra-party bickering by the BDP and used it as a launching pad for their dream to increase their council seats to three out of 10 in the wider Palapye constituency.
The victorious party’s campaign manager, Gaone Chamme said their primaries destabilised them and it worked well for the opposition.
“We had a marketable candidate than them. It was even evident during the rallies that the two parties held that we had much support because the ruling party appeared to have no answers to the needs of the youth,” he said.
He added that the opposition camped in the ward since December last year to make inroads while the ruling party only made an appearance in January this year. The BDP won the ward in the last general elections with a margin of 116 votes after garnering 714 against 598 of the BCP.
This time the opposition won with a wider margin of 103 votes. “Out of the 1,700 that registered for the general elections only 1,300 voted. This time we projected that at least 1,000 voters would participate in the by-election. Secondly, opposition cooperation also played a significant role as it increased our numbers,” he added.
“Their Bulela Ditswe really worked to our advantage as it seriously destabilised and divided them. On the other hand, we did not hold primary elections but instead candidates reached a compromise and the other pulled out of the race,” he added.
Chamme said that it also appears that members of the opposition are beginning to realise the importance of cooperation and instilled the hype and the zeal among their members to vote and win the ward. He added that one other fact that worked to their advantage was that civil servants are also disgruntled and are hungry for change of Government.