The primaries are to select candidates for the 2024 general elections The BPF joined the UDC, an opposition coalition, late last year. Botswana National Front (BNF) and Botswana People’s Party (BPP)are some of the parties in the UDC while the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) has signaled its intention to exit.
Yesterday, the BPF issued a memo inviting its members across the country to formally launch applications to contest the primaries. This is despite that talks for constituency and ward allocations with other parties are yet to be completed.
The party has set May 30, 2023 as the deadline for expression of interest for both council and parliamentary primaries.
The memo also led to insinuations that the party (BPF) might probably contest the elections outside the UDC.
The BPF president Biggie Butale said that the development does not mean that the party is undermining the UDC or preempting outcomes of talks with its coalition partners in relation to the allocation of wards and constituencies.
“ In the expression of interest, we have made it clear that the party has possible vacancies for the primaries. This means that the primaries will held in areas where we would have been allocated after the completion of the talks with our partners,” Butale told Mmegi.
“We are closer to completing talks (on allocation of constituencies) with other UDC parties," said Butale.
He emphasised that the party has issued an expression of interest for the primaries because it is a constitutional requirement.
At its national executive committee (NEC) meeting on Tuesday this week, the BPF resolved to prioritise preparations for the 2024 general election mostly holding primaries and preparing for the 2024 general election. The primaries have been set for November 2023.
