Opposition Romps To Victory
Monkagedi Gaothobogwe | Monday January 23, 2017 18:00
The atmosphere on the eve of the election seemed to favour the opposition.
On the eve of the weekend by-elections that saw the UDC and the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) snatch both council wards, Boikaego-Madiba and Tsabong North respectively, the National Junior Certificate (JC) results were announced. They once again painted a grim picture of the state of education which only managed a 32% pass from the close to 42,000 JC students that sat for the exams. The anger that fed from this fresh fodder was enough to cause damage on the BDP’s chances of winning.
Add to this another campaign against the BDP by the mine workers union that took to the streets and urged voters in Tsabong and Palapye not to vote for the ruling party because of the closure of the mines that cost over 6,000 employees their jobs.
Prior to the mine workers union’s stance, Botswana Federation of Public Private Sector Unions (BOFEPUSU) had resolved at a special congress in Tlokweng in December to decampaign the BDP. This, due to the continued enactment of repressive laws targeted at the trade union movement in Botswana.
The over 100-vote margin in Palapye is telling for a ward that had traditionally remained a BDP stronghold since independence. But like Phikwe, Palapye had fresh scars of its own coming into the weekend by-election - emanating from the Botswana Power Corporation’s (BPC) retrenchments, the failure of the glass manufacturing plant, the sale of Morupule B to the Chinese - all impacting negatively on the growing town’s job creation efforts.
But just when one thought the atmosphere was not hostile enough, the BDP in the area played in the hands of the opposition with its factional wars that continued to be acted out on newspaper pages and freedom squares.
For the opposition nicking two council-seats from the reds in just one weekend is more than a morale booster. The excitement trending on social media is more than words can say.
Moving forward to the forthcoming council ward by-election in Rasesa in February and the parliamentary by-election in Tlokweng in March, the opposition will hope the ground is just as fertile for another romp. Today the BCP and the UDC celebrate the historic victory with the much awaited announcement of the just completed cooperation talks that led to the formation of the UDC +
Weekend Council By-election Results
Tsabong North Ward
UDC 671
BDP 619
Spoilt 15
Palapye, Boikaego-Madiba Ward
BCP 606
BDP 503
Spoilt 19