04 Sep 2024

The opposition, Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF), will field more than 45 parliamentary candidates to contest the October 30 general elections.

This was revealed by the party chairperson, Mr Carter Morupisi, during a press conference in Francistown on on Tuesday. Mr Morupisi, who is also the BPF parliamentary candidate for Tswapong North, explained that the BPF, which was founded on the eve of the 2019 general elections, has positioned itself as an alternative to the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP).

He told journalists that while the BPF was running on its own platform in these coming elections, the party has not ruled out the possibility of forming a coalition with other parties if necessary. He said currently, the primary focus is on presenting a strong, independent alternative to the BDP in these elections.

Mr Morupisi further indicated that once voted into power, the BPF would come up with a national recovery plan and policy shift to revive the economy, which is already on its knees under the BDP rule.

He therefore called on Batswana to vote out  ruling BDP in the coming general elections and replace it with a new government, alternatively his party.

He explained that the BPF had good policies and programmes, which were aimed at uplifting Batswana’s living standards.

Mr Morupisi declared that the BPF was ready to take power and some of its priorities are to create employment for Batswana.

 He appealed to the BPF members to recruit more people into the party, especially those from the BDP.

Meanwhile, the press conference saw the BPF welcoming new members, amongst them the BDP specially elected councillor, Mr Modiri Lucas.

 The latter lost the BDP parliamentary primary elections to Mr Solly Reikeletseng last month and was beaten by AP Member of Parliament, Mr Wynter Mmolotsi in the 2019 general elections.

Mr Lucas told the press conference that he would now contest the 2024 general elections under the BPF ticket.

He said BPF was growing fast and had potential to rescue the country from issues of poverty, unemployment and health.

Mr Lucas said when voted into power, he would make sure that Batswana, especially women, were empowered to make their own living.

He said the BDP government has failed Batswana on many occasions, adding that most of the policies and programmes were never implemented.

Mr Lucas also appealed to the BPF membership to recruit more v people  into the party and desist from dirty politics, which could not  attract new members. BPF Secretary General, Mr Lawrence Ookeditse, appealed to Batswana to work with the party leadership in order to defeat the ruling BDP in the coming general elections. Ends