September 26 day of reckoning for BCP, UDC
The September 26, 2022 deadline will be a big day for the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) and Botswana Congress Party (BCP), two warring parties whose union has finally reached its demise.
This is so because on the day BCP Members of Parliament (MPs) and Councillors will decide their fate as per a UDC ultimatum. UDC president, Boko recently told UDC members in Mahalapye that their National Executive Committee (NEC) which now includes the newly welcomed Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) has decided to give legislators and councillors until September 26 to decide where they stand.
Boko also said the concerned parties should write to the UDC and indicate whether or not they will contest the 2024 elections under the coalition.
Therefore September 26 is also a big day for the UDC NEC because it is the very same day BCP president and secretary general Dumelang Saleshando and Goretetse Kekgonegile’s three month suspensions will be elapsing. Saleshando said Boko’s September 26 ultimatum is nothing but a plan devised for Boko to fabricate more charges against him and Kekgonegile.
Despite being suspended for attacking the UDC in public, the UDC vice president has never stopped attacking the UDC and its leadership during the period of his suspension. Saleshando has instead angered the UDC even more by leading his party to start talks with Alliance for Progressives (AP) on a possible alternative coalition.
The big decision on what to do with Saleshando and Kekgonegile on September 26 surely rests on the UDC NEC. Boko had in the past revealed that they have learnt a lesson when they expelled Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) from the coalition in 2018. He said instead of expelling the entire party they ought to deal with individual troublemakers hence the suspensions of Saleshando and Kekgonegile.
As the UDC NEC considers its next move, expelling the entire BCP is quite unlikely because the coalition belives that the BCP leadership of Saleshando and Kekgonegile is the one leading everyone astray. BCP is currently in the coalition by default becauseit wants to avoid by-elections. When BCP six months ultimatum expires it would eventually leave the UDC. As for legislators and councillors, their fate is solely in their hands as they ought to choose between the BCP which is on its way out of the UDC. Whatever decision will leave them exposed and having to run on slippery grounds.
The UDC NEC’s ultimatum is also strategic in the sense that the coalition wants to know who is on their side because it is too late to salvage their relationship with the BCP. This will also test the BCP members and they will have to decide where their loyalty lies.
The BCP recently expelled five MPs who were behind the caucus which unseated Saleshando as Leader of Opposition (LoO) in Parliament. The defiant MPs are the current LoO Dithapelo Keorapetse, Dr Never Tshabang, David Tshire, Onneetse Ramogapi and Kenny Kapinga.
The latter has since asked to be readmitted to the BCP, a request that has been granted. Moreover, September 26 will be also be a big win for incumbent MPs and councillors who decide to take the UDC path.
According to a letter dated September 12, 2022, Boko indicated that those who submit the expression of interest will automatically become the party’s candidates in the
2024 general elections. Basically the UDC way is the easiest path to standing for elections in
2024, something that the BCP has criticized recently.
The BCP recently emphasized that they are shocked that the UDC NEC has the audacity to dictate to its member parties not to hold primary elections to select candidates in the constituencies they manage.
The BCP felt the UDC NEC move is taking away the rights of members to challenge incumbent MPs and legislators Commenting on the matter, University of Botswana political science lecturer, Keaoleboga Dipogiso said the differences between Botswana National Front (BNF) and BCP are irreconcilable.
“It is now crystallizing that indeed the fissures between the parties could only grow, as the UDC is founded on feeble grounds and lacks models of conflict resolution. Now, as fate would have it, those that have a bigger bargain within the UDC (what I call the BNF and Botswana Peoples Party (BPP) bargaining unit within the UDC) are using their muscle to elbow out the BCP,” he said.
He added that this is part of a greater plan to unsettle the BCP, which started with the suspension of its leaders. Dipogiso pointed out that the BMD suffered this wrath, but because the BMD and BCP don’t have similar traditions, he doubts the strategy will work on the BCP, “Basically, the UDC is attempting to influence internal operations of the parties by asserting that their candidates will not be challenged.
It’s a mockery of democracy, which doesn’t only impact party organisation but has implications for accountability at the representative level. In democratic terms, popular participation of the sovereigns (members of the parties) is necessary, compared to a top-down authoritative instruction on what affiliates have to do with their representatives,” he highlighted. Dipogiso also daid the UDC has no place to dictate or pass a verdict on not only the parties but the extant social contract between constituents and elected representatives.
Another political analyst Mokaloba Mokaloba said this is a looming legal battle which will challenge the UDC and BCP. “The issues of resignation through conduct which Boko alleges will obviously be challenged in courts. However, if it comes to pass, the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) will use, the opportunity to try and reclaim the constituencies and wards amongst a divided opposition and it will obviously grab some,” he said.
On the other hand, the BCP spokesperson Mpho Pheko said Boko has no legal authority to cause MPs and Councillors to “resign by conduct”. Pheko indicated that no self-respecting member of the BCP will respond to this infantile September 26 ultimatum. “Every MP and Councillor is fully in charge of his/her standing in Parliament or Council.
All BCP-affiliated MPs and councillors have five-year contracts with residents of their respective constituencies or wards. The BCP expects every single one of them to honour those contracts, free from intimidation. Therefore, no BCP member will resign his/her seat in Parliament or Council at the instigation of the UDC,” she revealed last week responding to the ultimatum.
She said the loyalty of every BCP MP or councillor goes first to his/her constituency or ward, followed by the BCP. In addition, she pointed out that disciplined MPs and councillors of the BCP know that the party will not compromise on democracy, constitutionalism and good governance.
Furthermore, Pheko said as far as the BCP is concerned, the letter from Boko is inconsequential as it is inconsistent with the law as it pertains to elected representatives. She said all BCP elected representatives have been advised to remain calm, focused, and are reminded that their contract with the UDC is through deployment by their Party (BCP).
Still, on the matter, Mmegi has learnt that some councillors are planning to write letters together with their MPs. SYet others are said to be sticking with the BCP especially in the constituencies where MPs were recently expelled. Again in North West, Mmegi has it in good authority that they some councillors are consulting on the matter and are still undecided between the UDC and BCP.