Umbrella for Democratic Change

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Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC; German for example: "Umbrella organization for democratic change") is a party alliance in Botswana . In the parliamentary elections in 2014 it became the second largest group and thus the official opposition party. In 2019 she retained this position with slight losses.

history

Due to the majority voting system that is common in Botswana , the split opposition received relatively few seats in all elections, while the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) has always been in power since independence. The alliance was founded in November 2012 to pool the opposition votes in the parliamentary elections in October 2014. Parties involved were the Botswana National Front (BNF), the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD; a spin-off of the BDP) and the Botswana People's Party . The three parties together held six seats. Another opposition party, the Botswana Congress Party , remained independent and put up its own candidates. There were also independent candidates. Prior to the election, the UDC chairman, Harvard- trained attorney Duma Boko , claimed to be on a government death list along with other party members.

In the elections, the UDC received 17 of the 57 possible seats, including four of the five seats awarded in the capital Gaborone . He received 30.0% of the vote, the BDP 46.5%.

In 2017 all four opposition parties reunited to form the UDC. However, the Alliance for Progressives with several MPs split off from the BMD . The BMD was expelled from the UDC at the end of 2018 because of its ongoing internal disputes.

In 2019, former President Ian Khama resigned from the BDP. He subsequently supported the establishment of the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) and recommended the election of a UDC candidate in those constituencies in which the BPF does not run for the October 2019 election. The UDC received 15 of the 57 seats in the election and thus remained the official opposition party. However, Boko was unable to defend his seat and thus lost his position as opposition leader.

Structure and politics

Duma Boko, BNF, is president .

In the 2014 election campaign, Policy Director Ndaba Gaolathe named five priorities of the UDC:

  • the "beehive" education system
  • clean and effective government work
  • a "booming" economy
  • nobody should be excluded
  • safe and "fulfilled" families

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ We're on the government's hit list - Botswana opposition leader. Mail & Guardian of October 23, 2016 (English), accessed February 19, 2016
  2. ↑ 2014 election results ( Memento from November 15, 2014 on WebCite ) (English; PDF)
  3. ↑ Botswana opposition unites. herold.co.zw, accessed February 7, 2017
  4. ^ Division in Botswana's opposition leads to new party. ( Memento from October 30, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) sabc.co.za from October 29, 2017 (English)
  5. ^ The Botswana Movement for Democracy Secretary General Gilbert Mangole has issued his resignation as the chief whip of opposition in parliament. gabzfm.com of February 13, 2019 (English), accessed October 18, 2019
  6. ↑ Botswana ex-president backs opposition ahead of poll. Mail & Guardian of October 14, 2019 (English), accessed October 17, 2019
  7. ↑ Gaolathe speaks on UDC manifesto at mmegi.bw (English; archive version)