The major battle centres around the party presidency where incumbent Otlaadisa Koosaletse is up against his fiery deputy Gilson Saleshando and the secretary for health Dr. Kesitegile Gobotswang. Besides the battle for supremacy, the BCP congress is important because it will discuss opposition unity. Indeed, the battle lines in the party are roughly drawn between pro and anti-opposition unity groups. What comes out of the BCP congress may mean a stronger or weaker opposition.
The BCP was formed in 1998 following an acrimonious congress that resulted in a major split of the Botswana National Front (BNF) in Palapye. For a long time, it has been fiercely opposed to opposition unity, especially with BNF. But currently there is talk that the mood in the party supports unity.
The 48-year-old Koosaletse, who took over the reins from the founding BCP president Michael Dingake, feels he is still the best man for the job. He said under his stewardship the party has improved its support from 40,000 votes, one MP and 13 councillors in the 1999 polls to one MP, 60,000 votes and 32 councillors. “This reflects growth,” he says. “There is growth in the general membership of the party although it does not reflect in terms of the parliamentary and council seats.”
He blames the first-past-the post electoral system for not giving a true picture of the BCP’s strength.
Koosaletse goes to Letlhakane armed with opposition cooperation as one of his trump cards. “That is my agenda. I am going to cause opposition parties to cooperate. If I win, I am going to push opposition dialogue as politics is all about numbers. As much as we can talk about good policies, we cannot achieve our intentions when we don’t work together.” He said that when there is a by-election, opposition parties spend a lot of time fighting among themselves when, in fact, their common enemy is the BDP. Koosaletse says he has been assured by the faithful that he will be re-elected.
He is proud that when some political parties have known no peace, he has managed to keep the BCP together. He claims that the party leadership has been firm, open and accountable. He said that it is obvious the BCP and BNF do not trust each other but does not mean they cannot cooperate. “My vice president, Saleshando once said that there are no permanent enemies. What is apparent though is that we don’t trust each other. There are members of the BCP that do not like some members of the BNF and vice versa. But we can’t inform the electorate that we can’t cooperate just because of that.” He said it would be naive for the party to succumb to pressure of personal interests.
Saleshando said the race for the party leadership is not a matter of life and death. “After all, we belong to the same party. Whoever wins would serve the interests of the party. He said nobody should celebrate after winning. He said party members need each other and celebrating a victory at party elections is not good. The only time that we can celebrate victory is when he wins against the BDP. If he wins the party presidency he said he has one mission - to take the BCP to the people. He wonders why the issue of opposition cooperation has sparked a lot of controversy in the party. “I have a simple answer to the issue of opposition cooperation. If the BCP followers could decide to dissolve the party, which is provided for in the party constitution, then I will have to respect that view. Equally, when the party members could conclude on opposition cooperation, I will respect that.” He warned that opposition cooperation could be dangerous because people tend to lose interest in it faster than expected especially when it is adopted just for the purpose of elections. “There was cooperation in Francistown and the Northwest by some opposition parties and the BDP swept all the seats. I have never come across a country in which opposition cooperation has been successful. Politics is not like water in a borehole. It is dynamic and not static. In politics, two plus two would not necessarily be four like in the case of Francistown where three parties cooperated and lost bitterly.” He said that he is aware that people claim he is against opposition cooperation. He said it is unfortunate that he will have to go with what is agreed by the majority of the party. “At the BCP we met in Tutume, Palapye and Mochudi and we agreed that our doors are open to talks. For now, it is just unfortunate in that within the BCP, we are making unnecessary noise about working with the BNF when the party has not sent a proposal to us. The only party that has made a proposal is the National Democratic Front (NDF). The media is presenting a negative picture that I am resisting opposition cooperation when in actual fact that is not the case. We are just going to report at the congress that it is only the NDF that has approached the BCP.”
The third candidate for the BCP top job, Gobotswang believes that he has done his best campaigns. He expressed confidence that he would win. He warned that the campaign is still on and is likely to intensify in Letlhakane where anything can happen. He said he has what it takes to win the presidential race. “I possess the qualities of a good leader. Party members know that I possess the qualities that they want. Cooperation is a factor that will strongly enhance my chances. Politics of yesterday should not defeat today’s interests. We need to forge ahead and that is the people’s mood.” He wants cooperation and not a merger of opposition parties as proposed by others. He said he would make the BCP have a wider appeal when elected and revive the Women’s League, Youth League and regional structures. He is worried that the Democratic Development Programme (DDP) - the document that depicts what the party stands for - is not understood by the rank and file.
