Botswana’s leader of the main opposition Botswana National Front (BNF) party, Otsweletse Moupo, has said that he would not resign following calls from BNF supporters that he should step down as his poor leadership had cost the party dearly in last week’s general elections.
The BNF lost six out of its 12 seats to the ruling Botswana Democratic Party, its worst showing in a long time.
But Moupo told reporters at a press conference Tuesday in the capital Gaborone that politics was not business where the tenure of managers was determined by losses or profits.
“The people of BNF will decide whom they want at the 2010 July congress. I was elected and will not resign because a few malcontents are calling for my resignation,” said Moupo.
The BNF was also relegated to third spot in the national vote and lost control of the capital Gaborone where it has reigned supreme since 1984.
According to Moupo, the in-fighting in the party, propaganda by disgruntled party members and voter trafficking by the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) were to blame for the BNF’s disastrous performance at the polls.
But the BNF still managed to retain its status as the official opposition party by winning six parliamentary seats, with the second opposition Botswana Congress Party managing to win only five seats.
Source African Press Agency
