BPF: We Owe UDC Nothing

BPF: We Owe UDC Nothing

BPF: We Owe UDC Nothing

The BPF hits back at UDC members blaming it for Sefhophe defeat, declaring that the loyalty of its two Cabinet ministers to the UDC neither concerns nor binds the party

GAZETTE REPORTER

The opposition Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) has hit back at members of the ruling Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) who blame it for the coalition’s humiliating defeat in the Sefhophe ward by-election, declaring that it owes the ruling coalition neither political allegiance nor electoral loyalty.

The party has drawn a sharp distinction between its opposition status and the participation of two of its Members of Parliament in President Duma Boko’s administration, insisting that the UDC has an arrangement with individual BPF legislators rather than a formal alliance with the party.

Speaking in an interview with The Botswana Gazette, BPF Deputy Secretary General Modiri Lucas said “the ruling coalition must accept that the BPF remains an independent opposition party entitled to contest elections against it”.

NO ALLIANCE

“BPF is not part of the UDC. During electoral contests, we expect all our members, including the two Ministers-Lawrence Ookeditse and Baratiwa Mathoothe, to advance the interests of the party and not those of our competitors,” Lucas said.

He dismissed suggestions that the presence of BPF legislators in Cabinet should oblige the party to support UDC candidates or refrain from challenging the governing coalition.

“Look at the South African GNU, where independent parties continue to advance their parties’ interests despite being in an alliance with the ANC,” he said.

Lucas continued:“We don’t owe UDC anything.