They have also agreed that the party with the largest following in an area will field produce a by-election candidate to be supported by both parties. The BCP has already said they will support the BNF in the by-election for the Gaborone West North parliamentary seat. The BNF has returned the favour by supporting the BCP in the by-election in Ramotswana Central ward.
“In view of the current discussions between us and the BCP regarding cooperation in by-elections, the BNF will not contest the vacant Ramotswa Central ward and will instead rally behind the BCP candidate to avoid splitting opposition votes,” said BNF secretary general Akanyang Magama. He said the BNF has already communicated its position to the BCP. “The BCP has already supported us in previous council by-elections,” he stressed.
Magama, who is also Gaborone South MP, indicated that already, the BCP and BNF have cooperated to take the chairmanship of the Kgatleng District Council from the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP). The council chairman is Jerry Rasetshwane of the BNF while his deputy is Makhura of the BCP.
“The idea is that we should cooperate in all by-elections up to the 2009 elections. What we do is that we look at the strengths of each party and take it from there. This is only for the purpose of by-elections,” Magama said.
BCP executive secretary Morwadi Morwadi said yesterday that although it may not be official yet, some party faithful in the said Ramotswa Central ward have informed him that the BNF had promised to throw their weight behind the BCP candidate.
“I think it is something that we started in the spirit of opposition party unity. There are such developments,” he said.
He said the two parties will sign a memorandum of understanding with other opposition parties for the purposes of by-elections. This is because there has been a positive response from other opposition parties, he explained.
In the last elections, the BDP won the Ramotswa Central ward with 202 votes, followed by BCP with 176 votes and BNF with 80. These numbers show that the combined vote of the two parties could have beaten the BDP.
