The party, which ruled the country for 58 years and now a marginal opposition in Parliament, is currently not at peace itself. BDP diehards are incessantly at each others' throats, which might distract the focus of a party burdened with an urgent need to reverse the 2024 General Election losses. The battle for the soul of the once mighty political juggernaut seemingly presents the former ruling party with trials as a house diametrically alienated. Bitter wrangling also poses a threat as another spoiler if not contained timeously. Blame game post the party’s poor performance in last year’s General Election has become the order of the day with fingers pointed at former president, Mokgweetsi Masisi. Loyal operatives and across the party's main organs have left the party in numbers. At best, its leadership and diehards should deal with the party’s quandaries as a collective rather than playing the blame game. The BDP would need a forum of reconciliation by its operatives to help the cadres work as a unit and bury the past differences even beyond the impending elective congress. Otherwise, if the status quo is maintained, the party’s dream of bouncing back to its former glory days will remain elusive.
Former Cabinet minister, Kabo Morwaeng, this week buttressed the need for the party to facilitate reconciliation that will see diehards wholeheartedly burying the hatchet as this was an elephant in the room. Addressing a press conference, Morwaeng who is also Molepolole South Member of Parliament, acknowledged that the reconciliatory process would enable them to heal ahead of the crucial elective congress and forge ahead in solidifying its position on the political landscape. The blame game in the BDP is not only amongst foot soldiers as ex-Executive members are pointing fingers at each. Post the 2024 polls, one of Masisi’s loyalist and trusted ally blasted his former boss. The former Agriculture minister openly chastised Masisi for failing the BDP as the party’s head honcho and its chief campaigner.
Molao was not alone as party diehards took turns to condemn the party president for his weak stewardship. Masisi had a year left to complete his term of office as party president, but given the hostile environment prevailing in the party, he chose to yield to unrelenting pressure exerted on the leadership demanding for ‘fresh blood’ to lead their party out of the quagmire the BDP finds itself in. It will definitely be do-or-die at the party’s elective congress with the new leadership expected to hit the ground running and turn around the fortunes of an otherwise ailing party. Unless the party rises from the proverbial ashes, it might not be impactful again as it has lost its domineering voice at both Parliament and council levels. This comes also with loss of stable income from the contributions of both MPs and councillors. Gripped by panic and embarrassment of losing power, when least expected, the BDP would have to take its time and duly clean its house so that it can quickly recover from its historic loss. In the 2024 General Election, voters impelled former president Masisi to a one (five-year) term after things fell apart for one of Africa’s longest ruling party as it lost the polls for the first time since independence in 1966. Botswana Constitution provides for a two-term for the State president. Masisi, Botswana’s fifth president became the first to taste one term in office as his predecessors completed their terms. The founding president, the late Sir Seretse Khama, unfortunately passed on whilst in office in 1980 after assuming the presidency at Independence in 1966. After dominating Parliament and councils for the past 12 lives of Parliament, voters rejected the BDP as a party and its president, relegating the BDP to only four seats with a subdued voice, thus rendering a former dominating heavy weight to a shadow of itself. The majority tri-party coalition Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) has 36 seats, (including six Specially Elected Members of Parliament (SEMP)); the ruling coalition seems to have adopted the five Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) MPs as two of this party’s MPs are in the President Duma Boko-led Cabinet.
The ruling party has also adopted Independent MP, Edwin Dikoloti as he is in the Cabinet as well. Dumelang Saleshando-led main opposition Botswana Congress Party (BCP) has 15 seats. Recently, the BDP was hardest hit by resignations of strategic leaders in the secretary-general, which experienced two resignations by party diehards who resigned post 2024 polls. First it was Kavis Kario who took the party to the polls and later it was Dr Lemogang Kwape who was co-opted to fill in the void left by Kario. The latter left the party in search of greener pastures. It seems the BDP will have a tough road ahead after losing Satar Dada who was the party’s longest serving treasurer-general. The motor magnate has opted out of the party office, dumping the former ruling party. The resigning office bearers seemingly could not stomach the tussle of putting a distressed house together. Dada was reputed as one of the BDP main funder. On its journey to Maun, the BDP will definitely be preoccupied with plotting a return to top- flight politics and recuperate the ground it lost in the 2024 General Election. In the midst of hullaballoo taunting Masisi with calls that he should step down ahead of the elective congress, the former president has been valiantly leading a team of the party’s politburo addressing the BDP regions.
He has been forced to talk reconciliation, peace and reconstruction of the weak party structures. With seemingly low morale in the party at the moment, Masisi and the BDP leadership will have to add more fire to their appeals for support in its turnaround endeavours. Despite all odds stacked against the current BDP, Masisi is confident that if the right strategies are deployed, the party will make a strong comeback. “The BDP remains strong and solid. No one should underestimate it. Consider our popular vote; it’s only that our electoral system, First Past the Post, which we believe in, has disadvantaged us,” he had said.
