UDC CRACKS WIDEN: The opposition is more divided than before
The opposition seems to have returned from their outing in Palapye more divided than ever before, despite appearances and utterances to the contrary.
According to a press statement released on Tuesday by the publicity secretary of the Botswana Congress Party (BCP), Mpho Pheko, her party did not agree with the other coalition partners, namely the Botswana National Front (BNF) and the Botswana Peoples’ Party (BPP).
“Among the many issues raised is the suggestion on primary elections. As BCP, the bedrock of our democracy is the power of our members to enjoy the freedom of being able to avail themselves for elections to any structure in the party including the primary elections. “We therefore assure members of the BCP that their constitutional right to vote or be voted to become candidates will be respected fully as they shall continue to contest primary elections and elect their preferred candidates,” Pheko said. At a press conference in Palapye, UDC Head of Communications Moeti Mohwasa said that one of the things that were agreed at the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting was that constituencies of sitting MPs would not be contested in the interest of stability. This was on the back of speculations that a number of BCP Members of Parliament (MPs) are on their way to the BNF hence the need for a rule to protect them.
‘’The BCP knows the right channels and we expect them to use those,” Mohwasa said, responding to the BCP stance. He denied that the banning of primary elections is intended to protect potential floor-crossers from the BCP. “We are not surprised. There are people who will always say something negative about the UDC,” complained Mohwasa. For starters, when factionalism in the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) was endemic some 20 or so years ago, the party adopted ‘’compromise’’ as a solution.
Instead of a contest, the warring factions, in the case of national structures such as the central committee, Women’s Wing, as well as wards and constituencies, would agree on the candidates without voting. Meanwhile, the opposition, which was bedeviled by factionalism which often resulted in resignations, suspensions, expulsions or even splits, severely criticised the BDP as a party obsessed with the desire for unity at the expense of democracy. Opinion is divided on the issue of compromises or consensus. In an interview with The Midweek Sun, president of MELS,
Themba Joina, whose party has since joined the Botswana Congress Party (BCP), said he does not believe in compromise because it is not democratic.
“Firstly, the intervention protects deadwood, arrogant people while it closes out the youth. It stalls growth. Those who are in may stay longer than necessary with influential people protecting them. “Consensus does not accommodate new entrants into the system which is unfortunate,” said Joina, an ardent believer of democratic centralism, whereby everyone is entitled to contest. He believes that instability is caused by indiscipline. “It is caused by those who think they are bigger than the organisation. Hence it is wrong to compromise the democratic process. “Instead, the party should rely on a vetting process so that those who contest are real cadres of the party who have been properly groomed in the organisation,” argued the lawyer-cum politician. Joina also observed that instead of removing the tap root, it merely sweeps it under the carpet only to resurface overtime. Likewise, University of Botswana (UB), lecturer, Zibani Maundeni said that although compromise or consensus should never be turned into part of the administrative system, it should be considered a possible solution just to bring stability in the party when there are unity issues before returning to the democratic process where candidates are nominated by the people in an open contest. “Compromise should be a temporary intervention,” counselled Maundeni. There is a narrative that the UDC has adopted the consensus system so that should the disgruntled BCP MPs join the UDC, the regulation will protect them from UDC aspirants without having to defend the constituency by way of the primary election system.