The BDP as a party known to have ample resources has always held its primaries well in time, but this time around that was not the case. The first leg of the primaries was held last weekend, with the final leg being billed for the coming weekend. This time around, the BDP failed to shine in its primary elections. The elections were chaotic; most if not all polling stations didn't open at the specified time of 6am. Loyal BDP members braved the morning cold breeze to go vote for their favourite candidate, but most ended up spending the whole day at polling stations and some were even complaining that there wasn't communication. Some unfortunately ended up giving up and going back home, something, which made candidates very uncomfortable.
One question begs for an answer: why didn’t the BDP postpone the primary elections since it clearly shows that they were not ready? The day was a horrible one for voters. Some were turned away because their names didn't appear on the voters' roll. The elderly and youth party members spent a good part of their Saturday queuing to cast their vote and some constituencies had to postpone the elections to Sunday, while others started the voting process late in the afternoon. Would it be wrong for those who lost to decry that the process wasn't fair? Not at all, because many of the BDP members ended up giving up and returning to their homes, and the issue names being omitted from the voters' rolls also comes across as something that can be seen to be giving an unfair advantage to other individuals. The number of people who couldn't cast their votes because their names weren't on the voters' roll is a lot and those who lost can easily use it as a leg to stand on.
To make matters worse, journalists were attacked at Baitlotli Junior Secondary School (JSS) in the Ga-Malete constituency for doing their job.
The BDP is the ruling party and should therefore lead by example when it comes to holding free and fair elections. The party should ensure that their processes are transparent and exemplary in their internal party processes. This particular election is most likely going to have a lot of candidates who want a re-run of the elections and sadly we are only left with a few months before the general elections. Is the BDP going to be able to deal with all the complaints and make sure that its house is in order ahead of the general elections? Going by the primaries that betrayed such confidence, most likely not.
