On Monday, 1st December 2025, several opposition MPs, including BDP’s, walked out of Parliament in protest of the manner in which the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2025 that seeks to establish a Constitutional Court, was being conducted. BDP is in full support of the MPs’ action for the following reasons;
1. A Constitutional review ought to commence with the gathering of the public’s views. This is common knowledge. Actually, a few days earlier, all Members of Parliament had been taken through a workshop facilitated by professionals of Constitutional Law where this fact was reiterated. However, it is disappointing to observe that the ruling Party does not take its own advice.
2. Ntlo ya Dikgosi and some civil society organisations have already voiced their disapproval of the handling of this Bill. There is clear discontent, and the ruling party cannot therefore want to force it through Parliament processes contrary to this discontentment.
3. The State President was unfairly and unprocedurally given over two hours to debate the Bill, to share his already known views, and to scorn other MPs who were only afforded 20 minutes.
4. Creating the Constitutional Court is a piece-meal approach to the Constitutional amendment. Actually, the Constitutional Court is not a requirement for a review to take place. This amendment is meant solely to increase the President’s grip on the judiciary and to have him impose his views on a comprehensive review, if or when it takes place.
In view of the foregoing, BDP applauds the principled stance of our MPs as well as all the opposition collective. We further advise that the ruling Party must learn from past experience – Civic education must be prioritised so that Batswana know what they are dealing with. From experience, we admit as the BDP that we may have erred previously in presenting the 2024 Constitutional amendment, hence rejection by parliament, and we will not stand by and watch the same mistake being repeated.
Further, the constitutional review process needs to start with consulting Batswana rather than with the
President’s desire to keep appointing Judges unchecked. Government must not put the cart before the horse. The President’s views are not the gospel, and, if he is allowed a free ride with an insistence on his views and wishes without regard for dissenting voices, soon he may forcefully end capital punishment as it is publicly known that there are some convicted people on death row whose executions he wont sign.
Issued by:
𝐁𝐃𝐏 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒
