Members of the central committee of BDP;
Chairperson and members of the national executive committee of the Botswana Democratic party women's wing;
Members of the national youth executive committee of our youth wing;
Honourable members of parliament;
Honourable councilors;
Members of all BDP regional branch, ward and other structures in attendance today;
Ladies and Gentlemen;
It has become a clich at gatherings of this nature for speakers to begin or preface, their statements with phrases such as "we are meeting at a crucial, or critical time, or against the backdrop of momentous developments or events:.
Yet, with all that is happening on our national political landscape today, and particularly having regard to what has taken place within our great party in recent months, including:
*The unprecedented number of BDP members (at heart) who stood as independent candidates in the 2009 general election;
*The formation, and aggregation, by such expelled persons around the newly established Botswana Movement for democracy (BMD)
*The defections of some BDP councilors, as well as more than half the membership of the NYEC, as well as practically the entire membership of our GS26 structure to the BMD;
*The defections of some key members manning positions in our regional and branch structures;
All these developments, whether or not we readily acknowledge them, must surely warrant the descriptions of either "historic times" or "momentous developments".
