Although the two parties are no longer in coalition, the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) has issued a statement supporting its big brother, the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC).
The BCP has called for a fair, transparent registration process that can be trusted by all stakeholders.
According to a statement signed by the BCP publicity secretary Mpho Pheko the BCP lambasts the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) for what they call “by operating in conditions of darkness and refuses to allow political parties to observe the process. The UDC has now obtained an interim court order.”
“The registration process for the 2024 General Election, which was scheduled to last for a month, was set to commence today (1st November, 2023). The process has since been postponed following an interim court order. The UDC has now obtained an interim court order to enforce a fair and transparent process. We are of the view that the Order by the court is in the best interest of Botswana's democracy that is anchored on a credible election,” the statement reads in part.
According to the lime party, a free, fair and transparent election registration process is a critical aspect of a free, fair and credible electoral process. A registration process may be faulty for a number of reasons. It may be manipulated by officers of the Independent Electoral Commission ( IEC) names may be misspelt and ID numbers of voters incorrectly recorded. It may also include names of deceased persons. Such problems are common during this phase. These problems or mistakes may be innocent or fraudulent. It is therefore important to have a registration process that is trusted by all stakeholders; a process that is fair and transparent,” the statement reads.
The BCP says for a free and fair election to truly take place there is an incontrovertible rule that an observer should be an objective person who does not interfere in the process but is there to monitor that everything is done according to the set rules.
“We call upon the IEC not to tarnish their name and that of our country and allow themselves to be manipulated or ordered by the combo of DIS/OP/BDP to steal elections from the word go by insisting that only them can do this exercise, unwatched, when their credibility to do so has long been suspect in the eyes of key stake holders. Now reeling from a court order, and not willing to obey the order the BDP government and the IEC have demonstrated breathtaking abuse of state power by gazetting a postponement of the registration process to the 13th of November 2023 without consulting stakeholders, again under cover of darkness,” the statement further reads.
This comes after a Francistown High Court’s decision to allow the UDC and its designated members to observe the registration period which was supposed to begin on Monday, the IEC postponed the registration period.
The period which officially starts the election cycle was supposed to run from November 1 to November 30, 2023 but it will now run from November 13 to December 8, 2023. The Francistown High court’s Justice Gaolapelwe Ketlogetswe issued a rule nisi calling the respondent ,being the IEC and other interested parties to show cause on November 7, 2023 why the UDC registration clerks should be interdicted and restrained from monitoring the national elections registration process.
The court decision meant that the UDC observers were supposed to temporarily start their observation today until the court’s final determination on November 7. The IEC’s swift move to amend the registration period means that the UDC observers won’t go near their polling stations until the matter is made a final order by the High Court.
