The Failed Opposition II
I always wonder whats the use of having a great manifesto on paper if you cant sell those very same ideas verbally. Like all marketers in the world when they sell their products, they have to convince the consumer to buy that product. Just as well politicians have to convince the electorates that they are worth their votes by really convincing them why they are the right person.I would like to set the record that I dont distaste of the opposition but in my eyes they have failed finish & klaar. Statistics are there to support my views. If you can’t sell your ideas to the electorate how do you expect to lead a whole country.
Look at Rre Moupo, his BNF presidency has been a joke let alone a circus, disaster after disaster. If he cant manage his image and affairs, how can he be trusted to manage a whole country? Unless someone shows me something better, the opposition will remain a joke to me. So far members of the party have either been suspended or expelled yet he claims that he wants a majority in parliament, how do expect to win then when you don’t have your first choice in the game? His electorates even dont see him as Parliament material, they didnt vote him back. What does that tell you about him as president of the main opposition party right now?
All the opposition have done so far is say the BDP have failed but then tell me what they failed at doing and how are you going to amend that? Look at Barack Obama when he was runnig for office, he he didnt go in saying the Republicans have failed but he had motions in place to support him – he set out motions of raising taxes on the rich, reforming healthcare, withdrawing from Iraq, softening the sanctions on Cuba, and boosting the number of student grants which marks a far bolder vision than previous administrations. If the opposition also wants to get my vote they should come to me with a clear mandate of what they are going to change when they come into power. The fact that they are so obsessed with the ruling party is also a cause for concern, one would wonder do they even plans and a cause of action once they become the ruling party? They wouldn’t make a speech without mentioning the BDP. People would say the BCP is a safer bet but I dont think so. They come from the same school of thought as the BNF, they have the same ideologies so what would make them different from the BNF? They come from the same socialist democracy school of thought & the fact that the BCP was born from BNF doesn’t even sit well with me. The founding fathers were hardcore BNF members in the 90′s before the split in 1998. They were part of the cult following of Dr Kenneth Koma. Their president, Gil Saleshando has been rejected twice by the electorate, first in 1999 and then in 2004. What does that tell you about him? People don’t see it in him to represent them in Parliament as an MP, why would they vote him as president then?
Some might say that parties are not playing on a level field when it comes ot finaces and stuff along those lines? How did Obama get into office again? Money from donations, fundraisers and volunteer-ism. People volunteered because they felt that it was time for change and in the process they managed to wrestle the government from the Republicans. Look at BNF, when I look at its top brass, I see lawyers(Moupo, Magama, Sebego etc), lecturers(Letshabo, Mhaswa etc) and other respectable members of society, very highly educated. Can they really fail to raise money for the party? Cant they come up with ideas that can generate money for the party to give them a better campaigning platform? Don’t they have connections from abroad? The money that Obama had was from fundraising and donations, thats how he got to the white house. If they really say there is no political education, why dont they start it at grass roots then they can convince the elctorate that we are worth your vote? Make it your mandate to change the political landscape and not wait for a miracle. IF (its a big if )you want people to “understand” politics then start teaching them as early as 2010 then u might make inroads in 2014.
Another example would be the Democratic Alliance(DA) in South Africa, a so-called white minority party has been making inroads in the ANC territory even in rural Nothern Cape, Natal and the Eastern Cape. How is that possible? They dont get much funding from the government. Donations, fundraisers and volunteering were the order of the day. They have managed to get blacks on board who were fed up with the ANC and they have become the main opposition in parliament. Why can’t the opposition do that in Botswana and stop moarning about the unnecessary. The Opposition also gets support from the private media which levels the playing field with the BDP using state media. There are a lot of independent media platforms in Bots which could cover the news as much as the state organs in the country. How many households have TV in Botswana? How many households have radio? I would say the radios outnumber the tv’s much which means there is a clear platform for them to give BDP a fight. Newspapers!? Mmegi ran an article last time when they were endorsing Moupo, he won, so they do have a platform in that regard too.
They are a lot of things I can mention in this article but these are just some of the few I have picked. Explain your mandate to the ordinary being in the street then u might have it in you to challenge the status quo. The BDP doesnt have to say much, the track record is there and it speaks for itself, so its up to the opposition to raise the bar & challenge the BDP. IF raise enough points that make sense, why not sell them to your electorates then get that majority you will need to go to Parliament and even be the President? The opposition is a joke and the BDP machine doesn’t seem to be coming to an abrut stop anytime soon. So, i think its best we leave it at that. Sam did it all for me when he said, “Rather the devil you know than that the one you don’t.”
The opposition may loose this elections, I can say almost certainly that it is going to loose, but its a gross miscalculation for us to say that it has failed simply because one Moupo and BNF have been making one mistake after another.
You cite many reasons as to why the opposition has failed, most of them you benchmark against the achievements of BDP as the ruling party and the achievements of other parties outside the country.
It is a characteristic of black people to want to be praised for things they are supposed to do in the first place. Everything you see in Botswana, the good and the bad is a product of the BDP led government. You can call it their track record if you want, but I look at it as things they were meant to do in the first place.
The oppositions is trying its level best, you are saying that they should use the private media, what you are saying is like saying the poor people in the country should send their kids to english mediums while the rich send their kids to goverment schools because they are the government.
The BDP has a lot of money, and they have deviced a way to get more from the tax payers through the use of nominated councilors and specially elected MPs, while other parties are not afforded the same opportunities. and yet you say the BDP should keep the almost free and far reaching state media to themselves while other oppositions are to use the limited expensive private media and you call that leveling the field. Two weeks ago there were five full page adverts of BDP star rallies on the daily news and zero adverts of the opposition, the private media is also expensive for them to get that much coverage. A single article endorsing a party in a private paper which people have to buy will never be as effective as multiple pages on a paper that people all over the country get for free. It is just ludacris to assert that the private media can help level the field.
Donations, volunteering etc are from individuals with money. the people with money in this country are BDP members because the BDP government protects their interests. People’s business get sabotaged for supporting the opposition (credible heresay). Also I would not encourage an opposition party to get funding from the outside. these funds usually come with strings attached to them. Free trade once the party wins the elections e.t.c. With the policies that the BDP government, it is not far fetched to think that these companies/countries funding it (if they are there) own the party.
Another thing is population and demographics – with the BDP government, better part of the population has found its self poor and at the mercy of the gorvenment. more than 80% of the population is depending on either the government handouts or peanuts for salaries, both from government and private sector. A condition created by the BDP – a slave nation. and you expect people to give the little they have to the political parties.
The current state of affairs only favors a certain group of people in this country. They want to keep it that way. The opposition’s message “is we would like to change that, we would like everybody to have a share – AN EQUAL SHARE in the wealth of this country” – Dumelang Saleshando – two weeks ago. He is saying the opposition is not about saying that the BDP has fucked up, its not like the opposition wil come in and demolish what BDP has done and say we start afresh – No, the opposition is saying it will take over and improve on what is already there. The opposition does take the message to the people mister. It tries hard. You are too far to hear it, and believe you me, the online editions of local newspapers do not give you the full picture.
Here is a thing, none of you guys are answering this one, whats the use of having a great manifesto if you cant sell it to the people? You have this cool product but you cant market it, whats the use of even trying? I didn’t benchmark anything against the BDP, all i am saying is they have failed in my eyes. Those parties in other countries are either formerly the opposition there like the Democrats in the US or they have become a threat to the ruling party like the DA in south africa, how is that different from the BCP & BNF? BCP also follow the ideologies of the BNF, its not like they are an alternative.
Here is a scenario:
Opposition guy: The BDP has failed to govern this country etc etc
Electorate dude: Why do u say that?
Opposition guy: Read my manifesto.
Do you think people will take you seriously when you do that? If some of your senior leaders as the opposition get rejected by the electorates at Parley level some as far as Bulela Ditswe level, how are supposed to trust you with a whole country?
“Donations, volunteering etc are from individuals with money. the people with money in this country are BDP members because the BDP government protects their interests. People’s business get sabotaged for supporting the opposition (credible heresay). Also I would not encourage an opposition party to get funding from the outside. these funds usually come with strings attached to them. Free trade once the party wins the elections e.t.c. With the policies that the BDP government, it is not far fetched to think that these companies/countries funding it (if they are there) own the party.”
This is a far-fetched statement but what do you have to say about all the educated masses that are in the BNF and the BCP? People who hold doctorates. There was a donation from the BNF & its Allies in 2003/4, whr did tht come from? It came from another party abroad. Sometimes its just an alliance, it doesn’t come with any strings. Whose business has been sabotaged for supporting the opposition?
Moupo’s free ad on mmegi 2 yrs back is an example of private Media supporting the opposition, that would level the playing field dont you think? How was that not effective because Moupo finally won that constituency? How many people really read newspapers in rural botswana? Radios?! There are a lot of national radio stations, both private and public, whats wrong with that?
If people are as poor as you say and the opposition do its assignment very well then they should be able to walk all over the ruling party in elections because they want to be alleviated from “suffering and slavery”.
Sorry man, obviously you have been misinformed. I cant talk for the rest of other oppositions, Im not a member of the BCP but I can vouch for them, they tried their best. house to house campaigns, talking to the people and explaining their manifestos, rallies and public debates, the beat BDP flat out.If thats not selling then nothing is. BDP doesnt read its manifesto either, but they just go around basking in the glory of the past shouting track record. It would be stupendous for the opposition to try and compete with that because they dont have a track record. so what do they do? point out the mistakes and capitalize on them. I mean I would also point out that for a developed diamond rich company it is backwards to still have roads having potholes the size of a size 24 sauce pan leaving the city. thats a dent in their track record and it only makes sense to point it out to the people who only see the good.
You are still talking about ads from two years ago. we are talking the now and tomorrow. Moupo had money then, He is broke now, how do you expect him to put another ad again at triple the price he paid then. Think.
Talking about sabotaging, lets not talk about the opposition, lets take a recent incident where one guy with a ‘track record’ was sacked from work apparently for supporting a rival faction in the ruling party. If they can do that to their own, what then of the opposition? go figure
But as you said earlier, most Batswana are afraid of change and like you will say better the devil we know. Its a good thing you acknowledge its a devil