By Victor Baatweng
Come October 2019 Batswana will have to choose between a “refurbished” country and a “renewed” one, so says leader of the minority party in Parliament ÔÇô Ndaba Gaolatlhe.
Gaolatlhe who was responding to the 2019/20 national budget on Monday said that while he would personally settle for a “renewed” Botswana, voters will need to choose who exactly amongst the contenders will be the collective leadership that will give the nation this new Botswana.
In Gaolatlhe’s world, a refurbished Botswana entails retaining the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) in power whilst a vote for the opposition block would see a “renewed” Botswana.
“I stand here today and say I have hope, I have a faith about what is possible for this nation if we all came together to choose the right path, because the choice is there, the choice between the old way of doing things or a new way, a choice between the old political institutions or the new political institutions, the choice between the old Botswana or the New Botswana. The choice between refurbishment or renewal”, Gaolatlhe said.
At the same Gaolatlhe said there is no need for hurling. “We do not need to hurl at each other BDP against the UDC or against the AP, We don’t need to hurl at each other AP against the BDP or against the UDC. That’s not how a democracy works, demonizing each other and putting each other down. All we need to do, is to make a choice. We need to choose who exactly is the collective leadership that will give us this New Botswana.”
As it stands, Gaolatlhe ÔÇô who is the Member of Parliament for Gaborone Bonnington South and leader of the Alliance for Progressives (AP) will face his counterparts, Mokgweetsi Masisi (BDP) and Umbrella for Democratic Change’s Duma Boko for the presidency of the country in the upcoming general elections.
