Botswana Congress Party

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Botswana Congress Party (BCP; German for example: "Congress Party of Botswana"; also known as Mogobagoba , Setswana for "big truck") is a party founded in Botswana in 1998 . She was always in the opposition and has been part of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) alliance since 2017 . The party sees itself as social democratic .

history

The BCP split in 1998 from the also opposition Botswana National Front (BNF), which held 13 of 40 seats. The first chairman was Michael Dingake. From then on, with eleven MPs, it constituted the largest opposition faction and was therefore the “official opposition”. In the 1999 parliamentary election it received 11.9% of the vote, but only one of 40 seats because of the majority vote . 2001 Dingake was replaced by Otlaadisa Koosaletse. In 2004 the BCP won 16.6%, but again only one of the now 57 seats. In 2005, Gilson Saleshando became the new chairman. In 2009 the BCP joined the Botswana Alliance Movement , a planned electoral alliance with the BNF did not materialize. With 19.2% of the vote, the alliance established five seats, including the capital constituency of Gaborone Central. In 2010, BCP and BAM merged. The party was still called the Botswana Congress Party, but had a new emblem.

For the 2014 election, the BNF and two other opposition parties founded the UDC alliance, which received 17 of the 57 seats, while the BCP won three seats and won again the Botswana Democratic Party, which has been in power since Botswana was founded , although it received less than 50% of the vote for the first time. In 2017, the BCP joined the UDC.

Structure and politics

Dumelang Saleshando is the president , Kesegile Gobotswang is the general secretary . There is the Youth League for young party supporters and the Women's League for women 's concerns. According to its own statements, the party is social democratic. Before the 2014 election, the BCP denounced the alleged decline of democracy and corruption and promised social justice, for example by swiftly allocating land to potential farmers.

In addition to the words Botswana Congress Party and BCP, the emblem contains a black cow on a green background.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Edward Bule: Good Hope Mabule offers UDC its first litmus test past 2014. botswanaguardian.co.bw of 16 June 2015 (English), accessed on April 25, 2018
  2. ↑ a b History of the BCP at botswanacongressparty.org.bw (English; archive version from 2016)
  3. ↑ Botswana opposition unites. herold.co.zw of February 6, 2017 (English), accessed April 24, 2018
  4. ↑ Our ideology. BCP website (English; archive version from 2011)
  5. ^ Reasons why you should vote for the Botswana Congress Party. thegazette.news, accessed April 25, 2018