BCP MPs reject party decision
The Botswana Congress Party (BCP) Parliamentary Caucus has rejected the central committee’s (CC) decision to field a candidate against the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) in the upcoming Bophirima ward by-election in the Gaborone Bonnington South constituency.
This comes after the UDC disagreed with the BCP on the issue of candidacy at the Bophirima ward. UDC ended up declaring Mankie Sekete as the UDC candidate despite BCP’s preference for their candidate, Peter Mogapi. Failure to agree on the issue forced the BCP to call an urgent party CC meeting to make a final decision on the matter.
Apart from the press conference, which was held on Monday by some CC members, the leader of the opposition, Dumelang Saleshando also met with his Members of Parliament to brief them on the development.
Many believe that the move is likely to divide the party members as some CC members do not agree with certain decisions.
The BCP secretary-general (SG), Goretetse Kekgonegile admitted that the parliamentarians caucus met on Monday to discuss the CC’s decision to have Mogapi contest under the BCP emblem and name for the ward. Kekgonegile told Mmegi: “There is the diversity of thought and reflection about the decision but at the end of the day, the party has come down to a conclusion. The expectation is that parliamentarians tow party lines. The decision is not common hence a number of technicalities arise.
“So, it was wise for parliamentarians to caution
the party legalities that may arise from the decision.
“I am not aware of any parliamentarians who have vowed not to campaign under BCP ticket.”
He, however, said the BCP has taken a decision and CC resolutions are implemented by the secretariat in the lead.
In addition, Kekgonegile assured the BCP members who have been asking about the party president’s whereabouts that he has not taken a back seat but that he (Saleshando) will play a role in due course in the campaign. Furthermore, he said the BCP is a membership-driven party with democratic centralism as a guiding decision-making tool. The SG further pointed out that the membership will not always agree with the decision and there will always be differences of opinions of which the defeated in a debate always follow the majority.
He continued: “The BCP believes in opposition unity and is also realistic that it’s not an easy undertaking. But such undertaking must be done with honesty, transparency and fairness amongst partners. That way trust issues will never arise. The BCP will not call a special congress as no reason has emerged to warrant a special congress.”
However, an insider said the MPs believe that the CC does not have a mandate to make such a decision as it is the mandate of the conference.
“Instead, the caucus has advised the leader to call a special congress if they want to pull out of UDC. The point is that the CC cannot go against congress as the highest structure since it has taka en resolution that BCP should keep on being an affiliate of UDC.
If CC wants to suddenly change, then it must get a mandate from members,” said an insider. When addressing the media on Monday, the CC revealed that its decision, however, doesn’t mark the official withdrawal of BCP from the UDC coalition, an umbrella party they are contracted to.
Kekgonegile said this decision was meant to mark the beginning of a resolute stand against unilateralism and dictatorship in the UDC and this comes after the UDC released a press statement announcing Sekete of the Botswana National Front (BNF) as its candidate for the upcoming by-election for Bophirima ward.
On the other hand, University of Botswana (UB) political analyst, Mokaloba Mokaloba said: “It shows that the CC did not make enough consultation on the matter. But at this point, the CC was the highest making decision body since it was an emergency crisis. Now the war also becomes BCP amongst itself. It looks like this fight might go far. Any party with a coalition is bound to have this kind of fight. Again the BNF and BCP have never had the easiest relationship. This may also mean a total breakdown of the UDC. This is the time for the UDC to also start addressing some issues.”
Another UB political analyst, Shirley Monyatsi said the UDC leaders need to come together and engage in fresh talks looking at the outside environment, mostly the will of the people. She said they need a bottom-up approach to go forward.
“The UDC NEC needs from time to time to come together and discuss issues of common interest amongst themselves, which seems not to be with the current leadership. There is a need for UDC party affiliates to iron out their differences,” she said.