At an Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) workshop in 2002, the notion of introducing a code of conduct for political parties was tabled.
The IEC has since come up with a draft code of conduct addressing most of the concerns on political behaviour.
Politicians are always complaining about each other’s conduct, though most complaints have come from opposition parties, who accuse the ruling party of misconduct.
The most common grievances are voter bribery, use of government resources to conduct ruling party business and use of government media to advance the cause of the ruling party.
These concerns - for the most part - have been addressed in the proposed draft, drawn by the IEC, using the Tanzanian code of conduct as a model.
This code and the Tanzanian code of conduct, was distributed to all political parties requesting them to make extracts, and respond to the IEC by May 2002, but nothing has been done, pertaining finalisation of the code.
The IEC secretary, Gabriel Seeletso told Mmegi that the IEC has not received any response from political parties, as requested.
He however noted that even though the IEC had hoped to have the code in place before the 2004 general elections, they were cognisant that political parties were busy preparing for elections. He said following the stock taking the IEC carried out this year, they decided to make follow-ups on all pending issues thus including the proposal to introduce a code of conduct for politicians.
Despite, the delay in introducing the code of conduct, most political parties - for the most part - seem keen on its proposed introduction, with few disagreements on what it should entail.
The proposed draft has a lot of clauses, but there are only a few that were not fully accepted by all parties.
In particular, the clause that seeks to ensure that leaders who are in the ruling party do not use their positions or government facilities such as vehicles, aircrafts, offices, or government rest houses for election campaign purposes. An objection was made to this particular clause, by the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), and it was noted that the clause should be discussed further.
Another clause, which was not accepted by all parties, addresses the issue of public media - that it should provide equal opportunity to every political party during election campaigns. There was a partial disagreement on the basis that the concept of equality remains illusive, and that it should be discussed further.
Unless political parties are willing to compromise, a code of conduct in this country may remain a myth even though most political parties agree that it is a matter of urgency.
The BDP Secretary-General, Jacob Nkate, agreed that the idea of having a code of conduct for politicians is a welcome one, but he noted that the document should be worked on and finalised. Nkate said that while his party agrees with most of what is contained in the proposed draft, there are some clauses that need to be modified. He confirmed that his party did not totally agree with the clause on leaders not using government facilities, for election campaign purposes, particularly vehicles, and aircrafts.
He explained that his party position is that the clause should exclude the president and vice-president, explaining that the two - as leaders of the country - should be accorded the due respect and dignity. He added that the President is president at all times and noted that the practice is common in other countries. He said even though some of these countries emphasise security for letting their presidents use government facilities for party events, Batswana when coming up with this kind of document, should also be cognisant of the fact that, Botswana may not remain as peaceful as it is forever.
“I am not just saying this because my party is the one in power, I would want that for our president, even if he was from a different party,” he said.
He however said he agrees that government ministers and other officials should not unduly utilise government facilities, including vehicles, to conduct party business, including attending rallies.
He clarified that it should not however be taken to the extreme, giving an example that if a minister goes to Chobe on government business and while there gets an invitation from the party, he does not see logic in the minister having to turn down the invitation, just because he came with a government vehicle.
Nkate also said the issue of equal access to state media should be clarified. He noted that in his view, the media should cover political party events based on what they find newsworthy, and should not be forced to cover presidents of opposition parties, if they are not saying anything that would benefit the nation. He added that as minister, he might address more important issues that would benefit the nation, and the media should not be forced to cover any politicians when they engage in cheap politics.
The Vice President of the Botswana National Front (BNF), Kathleen Letshabo, said the introduction of a code of conduct should be treated as a matter of urgency. She acknowledged that negotiations on finalisation of the conduct, had stalled due to disagreements and objections on certain clauses, mainly coming from the ruling party. She explained that the clauses the ruling party objected to are the very clauses that address issues that opposition parties have expressed in the past.
Letshabo said as the BNF, they agreed with the clause that sought to bar ruling party leaders from misusing government facilities to advance their party agendas. She noted that the BDP did not take kindly to that clause, arguing that as the party in power, they should be awarded privileges, including use of government facilities to address party business. She explained that, that in itself disadvantages opposition parties, and is a clear misuse of government resources.
She argued that the reasoning that if a minister is in an area on government business, they should be allowed to use government vehicles to attend to party business, would not be plausible to deduce, whether the reason for the visit to that area, was for the purpose of conducting government business, or party business, adding that if that were the case there would have to be a mechanism in place that would prove the actual reason for the visit.
She explained that in certain scenarios, party business may be the main reason for the visit, and then a minor official attendance is put in place, to qualify the reason for the visit. She noted that these kind of privileges place opposition parties at a disadvantage because they have to dig deep into their pockets to conduct party campaigns. She also said that if the BDP does not agree to compromise, a code of conduct may never see the light of day.
The Botswana Congress Party (BCP), Secretary General, Taolo Lucas, said the urgency for the country to come up with its own code of conduct could not be over emphasised. He explained that the notion of coming up with a code of conduct for political parties was the initiative of parties, having realised the necessity to come up with one. He noted that progress on the finalisation of the draft drawn by the IEC, stalled because the BDP seemed to have difficulties in accepting certain clauses.
He noted that the BDP seemed to believe that since they are the party in power, they deserved to be given a bigger share of the public media, at the expense of opposition parties, stating that his party does not agree that public media should be used for the benefit of the ruling party, while disadvantaging opposition parties.
He also noted that the BCP does not agree with the ruling party that President Festus Mogae and VP Ian Khama should be awarded privileges to use government facilities to attend party events, explaining that it is a clear misuse of government resources.
He said his party firmly stated that they support these two clauses, adding that they will not agree to modifications suggested by the BDP to favour their party.
On the other hand, MELS Movement of Botswana is of the opinion that introducing a code of conduct at this moment would be jumping the gun. MELS President, Themba Joina told Mmegi that his party rejected the introduction of a code of conduct, on the basis that it would apply to all political parties when the parties are not seated equally.
He explained that it is not logical to have a code of conduct for all political parties while one party has all the resources at its disposal.
He added that it would be unfair to other political parties to come up with such a code before addressing the issue of parity. Joina firmly stated that if a code of conduct is enacted before addressing the issue of parity, his party will not accept it, and therefore it would not apply to them.
