A Statement Presented by the BCP President at the Press Conference of 27th October 2014 on the 2014 General Elections The Botswana Congress Party (BCP) wishes to thank all Batswana who registered and came out to vote in the 2014 general elections. The young and old who presented themselves to the polling stations early on the morning of the 24th were a demonstration that as a people, our determination to participate in shaping the leadership of the country remains strong. Our nation remains convinced that the ballot box remains the only legitimate route through which a government should be constituted. As with previous elections, the poll took place in a peaceful environment with all voters freely exercising their constitutional right. We trust and hope that this culture will continue to be a dominant feature of our politics. It is the fairness of our political contests that remains a source of great concern. As the African Union Observer Mission leader noted, Botswana needs to urgently attend to issues such as public funding of political parties. I wish to congratulate President Khama and his party for their victory. I also wish to congratulate the President of UDC, Mr Duma Boko and his party for their impressive performance, attaining the highest number of seats ever held by an opposition party since independence. This will hopefully result in a more vibrant National Assembly. I also wish to congratulate the IEC for conducting a well organised election, notwithstanding the glitches encountered particularly during the 18th of October vote. The media has also played a major role in this election by way of informing the voters on the alternatives presented by the political parties. The private radio stations in particular availed opportunities for the different political parties to communicate their message to the voters through constituency as well as Presidential debates. We are most thankful for the role they played. BCP Performance More than fifteen years ago, when our people resolved to form the BCP, the main objective was to usher in a disciplined, coherent, organized social democratic formation that can bring far reaching, political, social and economic reforms to this republic. Over the short period of our existence we have managed to build a formidable political organization determined to achieve its objective. We never took it for granted that it will be a walk in the park. We knew the journey was likely to be rocky and at times look seemingly impossible, but we were determined to never dishonour the cause of freedom. In the just concluded elections we had set high standards for ourselves. We have not been able to attain the targets we set out to achieve. We have lost seats that we had won in the 2009 elections such as Chobe, Ngami and Gaborone Central. We have also not been able to retain the Francistown West constituency which we had won through a by-election. This has not been a good election for the BCP and as the leader I take full responsibility for the poor performance. It must however be noted that the BCP remains relevant to our politics. The 2014 election results when compared to the 2009 results show that we have increased the absolute number of votes cast in our favour from 104,000 to 140,000. We have been able to retain our 2009 popular vote at 21%. This shows that our membership base remains strong and there is nothing fundamentally flawed with the BCP as an organization. The election is now over and there is need to look forward and plan for the future. There is need to reflect on the party performance and engage our membership before deciding on the next step as a party. We remain a membership driven organization and will always endeavour to take the views of our members on board when key decisions need to be made. The National Executive Committee of the BCP will meet this week to evaluate the election outcome as well as to prepare for a meeting the Central Committee of the party, that will be convened over the coming weekend. It will be for the Central Committee to decide on the next steps to be taken. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the over 140,000 voters who expressed trust and confidence in the BCP. This increased number of votes is a demonstration that our movement continues to grow and a large number of Batswana associate with our message of transforming our country into a better Botswana. I also wish to thank our candidates at both parliamentary and council levels including their partners who made the major sacrifices to represent the party. They have sacrificed family resources to keep the wheels of our democracy turning. Furthermore, I wish to thank the campaign managers, volunteers and all those who contributed their time, their ideas and resources to make us survive the rough battle terrain of the campaign. A special thank you goes to the people of Gaborone Central who granted me the opportunity to represent them in Parliament for a period of 10 years. It is an honour that I will always cherish. I have learnt a lot over the 10 years and hope that my efforts to influence policies and laws of the country for their benefit were appreciated. I urge them to extend the support that they accorded me to my successor, MP elect Phenyo Butale. It is in the interest of the constituency that the elected constituency representative should be accorded the necessary support for his term of office. For my part, I pledge to avail myself at any time that he may need to tap on my experience to advance the interests of the people of Gaborone Central. I also wish to most heartily thank my wife, Dineo, who allowed me to take on the assignment of representing the BCP in Gaborone Central and as its presidential candidate in the 2014 elections. I appreciate the inconvenience she endured and will forever be thankful for the unconditional support she granted me. As the party leader, I remain convinced that the BCP remains a viable and relevant political formation. Our members should know that we may have not achieved what we set ourselves to achieve in 2014, however, there is no need to panic. We need to keep the focus. An increasing number of voters still find our message and political ideals appropriate and relevant. I am certain that collectively as an organization, we will take time to reflect on the outcome and note the key lessons coming out of this election. We cannot change what has happened but we can and will influence what will happen in the future. I wish to conclude by quoting from 2 Corinthians Chapter 4 Verses 8 to 9: “We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.” We accept the results and look forward to the future with renewed hope, as for the first time in the history of our country; the BDP has failed to attain a more than 50% of majority of the votes cast. Dumelang Saleshando BCP President
Posted on: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 03:59:58 +0000
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