As October 21, the date set for the first phase of Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) primary elections draws near, Government has filed an appeal on Justice Modiri Letsididi's decision that allows public officers to vote in primary elections. Government wants the appeal expedited and heard on urgency on a date yet to be set by court. The demand for urgency and the timing of the application has fuelled speculation that the decision is calculated to protect ruling party activists, among them cabinet ministers and Members of Parliament who wish to contest Bulela Ditswe in just four weeks. In his judgment regarding the precise scope and reach of Section 5(5) of the Public Service Act (PSA) No. 30 of 2009 as regards the exercise of voting rights by public officers in political parties, Justice Letsididi ruled that voting in party primary elections does not constitute political activism as envisaged in the PSA. He reasoned that it could not have been the vision of legislature to promulgate laws that curtail freedoms and rights of workers, and that PSA does not prohibit public officers from participating in primary elections. Government lawyers argue in their grounds of appeal that trade unions do not have…