The party’s Director of Policy and Strategy, Dr Patrick Molutsi, assured the media and Batswana that the UDC will run a liberal government and deliver what they promised in their manifesto. Dr Molutsi said as the UDC policy and strategy team appreciated the work done by the media as they afforded them coverage during the run up to the elections. “People were always glued to media platforms to hear what we had to say. We wish that this culture continues going forward. From where we come from, we advocate for deliberative democracy. “We want people to converse continuously so we get to hear different points of view. It strengthens ideas. We will try our best and also speak out where we falter,” he said. He said to encourage open dialogue, they would put in place the long-awaited Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Dr Molutsi also shared that their manifesto was a result of extensive consultation with different stakeholders including unions, organisations and even individuals. “We are very proud that our manifesto is anchored on the views of the citizens of this country. And therefore, excited as we are, we are content that the views that ultimately went into the manifesto were generated by people,” he said. He said they are the only party that was able in its manifesto to state very clearly that civil society is a critical player in the delivery of government programmes. He said they are going to keep that.
He said they were also the only party to state that retired peoples associations and organisations still have a very important role to play. Dr Molutsi also thanked the voters for delivering 36 of the 61 seats in Parliament. “We are fully aware that we were overwhelmingly voted. But we are also fully aware that in terms of popular vote, we are a minority government by getting 37% of the votes while more than 50% went to the other parties. We did not expect that everyone will vote for UDC. We appreciate and we will reach out to every Motswana to give ideas and thoughts in different issues. Some of our people are well travelled and well researched. We should not make a mistake of not listening or we will fall into the trap of past leaders,” he said. He said although they are grateful for the majority seats, they would not abuse it in Parliament because they know there are others in parliament who have been equally voted by different voters in the country. “We will give our opponents the respect they deserve with the understanding that they would do the same to our government,” he said. Molutsi said they understood well that their government has to do better also considering that if they do not do better they could easily lose power in 2029. He however said they were confident as they had selected a team they know would do their best. He also reiterated President, Advocate Duma’s words that they were not going to spend time bashing the BDP.
