Former Botswana foreign minister Pelonomi Venson Moitoi on Friday announced that she has withdrawn from the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) presidential contest.
“I will not run this afternoon because I will not promote a sham. Today’s election is riddled with irregularities,” Venson-Moitoi told reporters in Kang village in the west of the country where the BDP national congress is underway.
She said she would not be part of an election that had been rigged from the onset, saying the ruling party secretariat campaigned for her opponent, President Mokgweetsi Masisi.
Venson-Moitoi, who was seen as former president Ian Khama’s proxy, said contesting the election would have legitimised what she called a flawed process.
Khama fell out with Masisi over governance issues and Venson-Moitoi’s decision was seen as his efforts to “return to the presidency through the back door.”
Venson-Moitoi’s withdrawal means that Masisi would stand unopposed.
Her withdrawal followed a case in which she lost before the High Court in a bid to have the national congress postponed to address some irregularities.
KO/jn/APA