MELS WON’T JOIN MERGER OF OPPOSITION PARTIES
Joina contends that liberal parties cannot liberate the economy for the benefit of the majority
Opinion is divided among politicians as opposition parties come together to discuss cooperation ahead of 2024 general elections regarding the mode of cooperation to deliver a win for them.
The Alliance for Progressives and Botswana’ Patriotic Front (BPF), which were not part of the opposition collective, Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), are in talks with the UDC.
While some of the stakeholders believe in the alliance model, others would like the Alliance for Progressives (AP), Botswana Congress Party (BCP), Botswana National Front (BNF), (BPF) and Botswana Peoples’ Party (BPP) to dissolve into a single entity with a completely new identity.
Speaking in an interview, the president of MELS (Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin), Themba Joina explained that his party would not join the rest in a merger should that become the preferred model of cooperation by the parties. MELS has been an affiliate of the BCP since 2014.
“As MELS, we are proponents of the socialist agenda. Because none of the contracting parties believe in the maximum programme, we have decided to work with them on the basis of the minimum programme. We are a Marxist organisation aiming to nationalise the economic means of production. An amalgamation involving us will be a betrayal of the workers,” said Joina.
He added that BCP, BNF and BPP do not believe in the MELS maximum programme and feared that socialism would die should MELS join the cooperation partners in a merger. His position is that, liberal parties cannot liberate the economy for the benefit of the majority.
“Liberal policies create a social welfare system which may not guarantee social and economic justice. The means of production will remain in the hands of a minority. This has been the trend in most countries,” explained the ideologue who however, added that MELS would still affiliate to the new opposition entity.
Joina is worried that the opposition partners tend to fight over wards and constituencies. His belief is that, the parliamentary aspirants and their respective parties should be selfless and adopt a deliberate act of give and take.
His view is that constituencies should be divided into two categories.
“One third of them should be allocated to the parties while the rest are opened for primary elections,” he advised.
On a different note, Joina insisted that MELS, which has clearly been ‘silent’ for some time, is still active.
“We are affiliated to the BCP but we still hold our different activities. Everything is in place. For example, we are currently working on our basic document which we will publish as a booklet,” revealed Joina.