Sensing political trouble may be in the horizon, the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) Youth Wing has brushed off potential threats posed by a united opposition ahead of the 2024 general elections.
The young democrats are mindful not to undermine the political dynamics playing out in Botswana. In the last general elections, the party suffered a major defeat in the northern parts of the country for the first time since independence.
This was after former President Ian Khama defected from the ruling party and formed the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) where he cunningly positioned himself not as founder but patron.
He subsequently lend a helping hand to the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) to unseat the BDP. The move worked for him and against. The BPF won three parliamentary seats while giving opposition Botswana Congress Party a major boost to win at least five seats north of Dibete. It also resulted in an unsettled organised labour that gave the BDP a political boost in the predominantly held opposition southern areas in protestation against Khama’s perceived autocratic rule.
Opposition parties recently indicated that talks to have all opposing parties under the same roof were progressing well. It was further announced that proposals have been discussed, distilled and merged into one agreed document.
Unfazed but equally unsettled BDP Youth Wing Chairperson Karabo Gomotsegang said the ruling party has no reason to be worried about the possibility of having one solid opposition party in the next elections. He said what is needed on their part is to implement promises made in the lead up to the last elections.
He said even though the implementation of their 2019 manifesto was derailed by the outbreak of Covid-19, the party recently came up with a reset agenda to prioritize the execution of the past election promises.
“Batswana will not vote out the BDP regardless of a united opposition because we all know that opposition parties have a terrible history of failing themselves in the lead up to the general elections. We are united in the BDP and we are also hard at work to ensure that we implement the promises we made in the last elections because when Covid-19 broke out the first priority was to ensure that we preserve as many lives as possible then from there we rebuild the economy,” said Gomotsegang.
He said the ongoing commissioning of water projects is an indication of the BDP led government reset agenda, adding that a promise was made in 2019 that water shortages will be addressed.
Gomotsegang stated that the current plan is to resuscitate the economy to create job opportunities for young people.
“We continuously engage the party leadership on issues of job creation particularly for the young people and also to allocate young people some business plots. We are moving in the right direction so far. I have no qualms that we will achieve more than 80% of our election promises given that we are almost two years away from the next elections. It will only be appropriate if we could do exactly what we promised with the time left,” said Gomotsegang.
He stated that the BDP remains a trusted party adding that it has a proven track record of good leadership.
“I have no doubt in my mind that Batswana will entrust the BDP with another mandate in the next elections because we all know that opposition parties have never showed any readiness to rule,” added Gomotsegang.
He said the speed with which the BDP led government has started to implement promises should be enough reason for Batswana to vote them once again.
On the other hand, President Mokgweetsi Masisi assured BDP members this year that the resetting of priorities aimed at breaking barriers, removing hurdles and building momentum towards Botswana’s goal of becoming a high-income country must be immediate.
He said a new mindset, seeking new and smarter ways of implementing projects on time and budget, whose focus was citizen economic inclusion, was necessary.
