Opposition parties should bury the hatchet

Just a year ahead of the 2024 General Election, there seems to be a worrying trend developing in the opposition bloc. Peace is eluding the opposition at a time when the country expects what is touted as the ‘people’s project’, the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) to rise to the occasion and unfortunately, things are seemingly falling apart.

If only the leaders of the opposition parties had listened to President Mokgweetsi Masisi’s forebodings when addressing a rally in Shoshong recently confessing that going into the 2019 General Election, his party was threatened by the strength of the UDC coalition partners that encompassed the Botswana Congress Party (BCP), the Botswana National Front (BNF) and the Botswana People’s Party (BPP).

If only the leaders had listened to Masisi’s message, they would have done better. The Masisi-led ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) has literally been in fear of the strength of the coalition partners. But the incessant fights in the UDC definitely offer a sense of relief to the BDP and its leader Masisi.

Today, some of the negotiating opposition leaders are having a tough time facing each other around the negotiating table for a coalition deal with others because of the diatribe they exchanged yesterday. Botswana’s opposition leaders are mainly young people who know the advantages of coalition partnerships but alas, they do not see to realise the value of their working together.

In the midst of the brouhaha that is currently tearing opposition parties asunder, attention is slowly drifting from the target of removing the BDP from power; rather it is misdirected towards party on party fights.

The ball is now in the opposition court to win back the confidence of the masses that are slowly giving up on the volatile opposition politics.

It is still possible for the opposition to fight back and regain what they have lost over the years. The ugliest fights between the coalition partners at the UDC that saw the BCP declaring to pull out from the coalition because of the UDC president’s ‘undemocratic tendencies’ as they claim he has rendered the main opposition party a one-man-show.

We recently witnessed the BCP and its would be coalition partner, Alliance for Progressives (AP) failing to agree on unity terms which unfortunately deteriorated into a shouting match where both sides spewed out unnecessary diatribe in the public domain targeted at each other.

As if that was not enough, the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) has been struggling to quell internal fights that saw some members of the executive leadership trooping out of the party to the BDP. Two BPF sides recently faced each other in court with a side led by president Biggie Butale winning against a side led by Tshekedi Khama. The party is still gripped by tension that continues to tear it apart.

It is time for opposition parties to introspect and see where they have gone wrong and correct their ways if they want to remain relevant and win the hearts and minds of the masses. It is time opposition parties genuinely bury the hatchet.