Liakat Kablay

"Taxes would affect every citizen in a bad way and we politicians included. We would not be rushing for salary increase but rather hope that developments as budget in our constituencies contained in the National Development Plan (NDP 11) are prioritized immediately."

"This budget shown that the worst is ahead for us as the foreign reserves are drying up fast. If the little that is left is not utilized wisely, the country will be bankrupt beyond recovery."

"I am aware of their plans."

"I understand that they want to punish me because they believe that I am always against them in Parliament. They have even gone as far as pledging campaign funds for those who want to challenge me in primary elections."

"The most unfortunate thing is that they are now playing the tribal card."

"They are telling voters that I am not one of their own. This constituency was a Botswana National Front (BNF) stronghold for a very long time until I decided to challenge Gordon Mokgwathi in 2009 and I won it for the BDP."

"This is one of the biggest problems with the 12th Parliament."

"Each time you differ with some of them, they see you as an enemy. As Chief Whip, I have the authority to speak up when things aren’t going well. My duty is to protect the image of this government and I will continue to do so without fail."

"Some of these ministers actually have the guts to hold Kgotla meetings without even inviting the MPs."

"When Parliament reconvenes, I will discuss all of these issues at our next Parliamentary caucus. I will even make sure that I reveal the names of these ministers before the Leader of the House (Vice President Slumber Tsogwane) and HE (President Mokgweetsi Masisi). BDP spokesman Banks Kefentse’s phone rang unanswered on Tuesday afternoon."

"I appreciate that cabinet ministers always make an effort to provide good answers to questions in Parliament, but there is also a need to cross-check the information for veracity."

"The ministers must understand that providing untrue answers tarnishes the image of the Masisi-led government. It opens the floodgates of criticism of our government and has the potential to negatively affect the BDP in the general elections."

"Therefore, it is high time I reported these kinds of ministers to President Masisi so that action may be taken. When a question is posed in Parliament, the general public becomes agog because they want to know what is happening with their tax money."

"I feel for the mover of this bill because the majority of our MPs have vowed to vote against it."

"Most of those who have approached me raised concerns about the bill."

"They are against it because they feel it threatens the moral fabric of society and goes against religious beliefs. Significantly, it is an impediment to our population growth."

"How can we promote homosexuality when our population has been stagnant for so many years? We should be blaming our low population growth rate on this kind of moral decay."

"I feel sorry for Shamukuni because he is only doing his job as the minister upon whom this duty falls."

"I wish people would not judge or crucify him because of this bill."

"We recently held a meeting with the party’s MPs to warn them against supporting opposition motions and we want to believe that they clearly understood us because some of them have a tendency of voting against the party caucus."

"We will try by all means to ensure that voting on the motion is by open ballot so that we see who is against the President."

"But then again, they should know that once the motion passes, the party will have no confidence in them."

"This will be the right time for us to know who our enemies from within are."

"I want to tell you that whoever goes against us, we will definitely ensure that we do not support their motions own in Parliament. We have warned them that we have been watching them because they never support caucus decisions."