But it is at times like these that responsible political parties ought to display a level of maturity that our country's opposition seems increasingly incapable of. First things first, the Botswana National Front needs to congratulate the BDP on a job well done. A sober appraisal of what went wrong with the opposition must then follow. For its part, the BDP must also make an honest assessment of what happened that it should escape by a whisker, with a measly nine votes saving it from defeat. For both the ruling party and the opposition, the critical self-analysis of performance in Mokobaxane must be a part of a wider assessment of past performance upon which to craft a template for 2014. Afterall, the next general elections are not as far away as many may think. Nevertheless, this does not detract from the BDP's right to celebrate humbling the might of the opposition collective. As for the opposition, a new maturity is required if it is to convince Batswana to continue casting their votes in its favour.
Sadly, that maturity seems to be lacking, at least among opposition supporters, witness the outpouring of recriminations that began on Saturday. This does not bode well for opposition cooperation, whatever model it takes for 2014. But the BNF and its partners would be well advised to focus on their weaknesses in the campaign for Mokobaxane and draw lessons from the experience. Rather than see this as failure, they should view it as an opportunity to regroup and to prepare better. What has been demonstrated is that an organised opposition can present a formidable challenge to the BDP. This is so even though it is questionable whether the opposition has the necessary realism to accept that every loss is a call for greater conviction in the strength of a united front.
