Africa-Press – Botswana. Not only did the UDC retain Kgalagadi South constituency at the recent by-election, but it also did so in spectacular fashion.
It increased its winning margin by 8%, and its share of votes from 54% to 57%. Its closest rival, the BDP, garnered 35% fewer votes, and the UDC itself saw a reduction of only 22%.
But how was this possible, given the unfulfilled electoral promises, growing shortage of medicines and supplies in public hospitals and clinics that are used by the poor, who had expected the UDC government to end it; growing joblessness and poverty on account of a downturn in economic activity; the cancellation of agricultural programmes that subsistence farmers depend on, etc?
The good showing by the UDC could be a result of an increase in Tandabala or old age pension (although not as much as had been initially pledged) and the usage of mother tongue languages by the State broadcaster.
But the benefits from these initiatives ought to have been cancelled out by the above-stated difficulties. One would have therefore expected the by-election result to be similar to that of the 2024 General Election (GE). In fact, assuming that both parties gave the campaign their all, there is no reason for the BDP to have been voted by much reduced numbers than those of the UDC.
Undoubtedly, losing the by-election to the BDP would have been catastrophic because public confidence in the UDC would wane, and so would the prospects of serving for more than one term, especially given the acute financial challenges that the country faces. And no political party wants to be a one-term phenomenon. The stakes were incredibly high. For survival, the party had to win the by-election, by hook or crook, and not leave the outcome to fate.
Over the years before it assumed State power, the UDC vehemently opposed the practice of transporting ballot boxes from polling stations to counting centres, pointing out that this allows the ruling BDP to stuff ballot boxes and rig elections. It demanded electoral reforms. So suspicious of the integrity of the elections that, after experiencing a whitewash at the hands of the BDP in the southern part of the country at the 2019 GE in which DGB lost his seat, the UDC took the outcome to court, alleging that the ruling BDP had rigged the elections. However, the case was thrown out on a technicality, and its merits were not argued.
Amongst other electoral reforms, the opposition UDC, together with the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) proposed that the counting of ballot papers should be done at polling stations to prevent possible election rigging by the ruling party, which the IEC flatly rejected.
Just before the 2024 GE, on behalf of the UDC, GDB took the IEC to court to force it to enact electoral reforms that included the observation of voter registration by opposition parties; a court case that he lost. Given the hullabaloo over the matter, it was nevertheless a smart publicity stunt that evidently worked wonders at the polls.
The UDC was convinced that the IEC was complicit in the alleged electoral rigging by the ruling BDP. The electoral body’s benchmarking trip to Zimbabwe to interact with the widely discredited Zimbabwe Election Commission on the eve of the 2024 GE only served to confirm the UDC’s fears.
Contrary to expectations that top IEC officials would be purged after the UDC won State power, the UDC government extended their contracts instead. The move was perplexing given the UDC’s allegation of their complicity in vote rigging under the BDP administration. The uncharitable believe that the UDC wants to illegally extend its tenure by rigging elections just as the BDP had allegedly done.
In fact, if the opposition UDC believed that the ruling BDP exploited loopholes in the electoral process to rig elections, there is absolutely no reason for the ruling UDC not to do the same. Kgalagadi South is a big constituency, with distances of more than 300km between some polling stations and Tsabong, the counting centre. Given this scenario, can the stuffing of ballot boxes during the by-election be ruled out?
Based on its allegations, when in opposition, electoral reforms ought to have been the topmost priority for the UDC government. But a whole year has passed without the reforms it once called for. Since electoral reforms would not cost even a single thebe, the excuse of empty coffers will not fly. What gives? In order to make the electoral body truly impartial and independent, it should be removed from the Office of the President and placed under Parliament.
In the immediate term, the Electoral Act needs to be amended to require the counting of ballots to be carried out at polling stations and the results relayed to counting centres. This would also remove the lengthy delays in announcing election results. Without the necessary electoral reforms, suspicions of vote rigging will persist. Will the UDC government do the needful and confound critics?
Source: Mmegi Online
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