OPINION POLE: Political parties let the pictures of their representatives do the talking

With the stage set for the Monarch West by-election tomorrow (Saturday), speculations are rife on who will replace the late councillor Shah Jack of the BDP.

In a bid to lift the lid into an election that has generated much debate on the capabilities of the candidates, The Voice conducted a random survey on 100 people on the streets of Monarch West which indicated that the ruling BDP was on the lead.

The larger proportion of the residents of the poverty-stricken constituency were of the opinion that the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) was the political party they would trust.

BDP’s Godfrey Kaelo and Goitse Majumane of the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) alongside Peter Thabani, who is contesting on the Botswana People’s Party (BPP)’s ticket, were expected to battle it out for the area tomorrow.

Kaelo of the BDP proved to be the favourite candidate among those interviewed. Many said they would vote for him because of his humility and desire to work for the people of Monarch which he has demonstrated for over four decades.

A total of 60 people out of the 100 said they did not only like Kaelo but also liked the party he stood for because the BDP had proved to have the people’s interest at heart despite the state of the economy.

Many interviewed perceived the current BDP administration to have sound economic policies which only needed people to be positive and innovative to be effective.

BCP’s Majumane was in second position with many people expressing the view that the BCP was an emerging political organization with a lot of potential.

35 of the 100 interviewees, especially the youths, felt that the BDP has long gone past its sell by date and therefore needed to give way to the BCP.

Polling the least number of only five people was the BPP candidate. Most of those interviewed said the BPP was as good as dead because its structures were non existent in the area.

They also dismissed the BPP’s cooperation with Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) and Botswana National Front (BNF) as a combination of failures characterized by anger and bitterness.

The few however who believed in the BPP maintained that the oldest political party in the country was set to surprise many, thanks to its coalition with the BMD and the BNF.

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