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 On Sunday, opposition parties followed the BDP trail and ended at the same political destination albeit with a different purpose. The opposition parties had what appeared to be a simple task ahead of them. Nothing complex at all at least at face value. The leaders of Botswana Alliance Movement and (BAM), Botswana Congress Party (BCP), Botswana National Front (BNF) and Botswana People's Party (BPP) had converged to sign a declaration of intent meant to culminate in a pomp and ceremony-filled affair at a grand political rally in Maruapula. The rally took place but none of the parties signed the declaration that took them to the Motel. Prior to the Sunday meeting, the main opposition - BNF - said it would not sign the declaration. In fact, there were overt suggestions in the press that the BNF was deliberately stalling on the process and they would even boycott the Sunday meeting, thus throwing the whole process in disarray. The other opposition parties would go ahead and sign, it was suggested. At the signing ceremony, the BNF president Otsweletse Moupo did not pitch but he was represented by his deputy Dr Kathleen Letshabo. Amidst expectations, suspicions and speculations, the opposition's first test was underway. The presidents' meeting took much longer than expected. The leaders did not hide that they had serious behind the scenes negotiations. After a lengthy discussion, they trooped out in what appeared to be an unplanned single file. First to come out was Letshabo. There was gaiety about her walk. Her face said very little. She greeted the band of newshounds before proceeding to make some telephone calls. In tow was BAM's Lepetu Setshwaelo but there was very little to read from his face either. BCP's Gilson Saleshando and BPP 's Benard Balikani trudged out to join some of their supporters who had been hovering outside the hall. Within a minute, everybody was called into the press conference. It was obvious from the long faces of some supporters that something was amiss. Whatever their leaders told them was not what they had hoped for. Inside the packed room, Setshwaelo told members of the press that the declaration would not be signed because other members or a member were not yet ready to sign. Balikani, who was the convenor of the meeting, told reporters that it was not a secret that the BNF had some reservations about the way the declaration was semantically clothed and couched. The reporters were told that the BNF had asked for more time to consult. "We will not sign the declaration today but it shall be signed in due course. It will not be long. Maybe in two weeks or two months but we hope it will be in two weeks rather than two months," said Setshwaelo. Letshabo took the podium to explain that her party's commitment to opposition cooperation is beyond reproach. She pleaded with the press to understand that like any other party, the BNF should be allowed to express misgivings about aspects it is not comfortable with. She said the BNF should be allowed to consult its leadership when it requests to do so. "Is it really asking too much when we say we are not happy with the use of some words because they carry certain connotations? Is it asking too much when we ask that certain statements like the one contained in the last paragraph talking about posterity and Botswana opposition movement needs to be thrashed out before we can commit ourselves? The paragraph says: "Thus we the people of Botswana, call upon our leaders to individually place their marks on this charter, to remain engrained thereon indelibly for posterity, as a show of unwavering and lasting commitment to unity of the Botswana opposition movement - for unity is our sweat and blood". There is a tendency among the media to adopt a reductionist approach to events as they unfold. Inherent in the approach is to reduce events and phenomena to the simple formulae of losers and winners and heroes and villains. At this point, the journalist streak became over-bearing in the examination of the morning events. The verdict was simple - the BNF has won this round. But to the opposition party leaders, such a view would be a serious over-simplification as there are no winners and losers, big brothers and fringe players in a negotiation process. In the words of Saleshando, the fact that the parties did not sign the declaration was not a setback nor is it a manifestation of any big brother attitude by anybody. "We understand as opposition that the path we have taken of negotiating to work together is not going to be a smooth one. There will be occasional misunderstandings and quarrels," he said. Fielding questions from the press, party leaders reiterated and reaffirmed their commitment to the cooperation project. They all said they are paying much more than lip service to the process. But Setshwaelo broke rank and slammed leaders who breech the covenant and leak stories to the press. In what appeared to be an onslaught on the professional conduct of some members of the negotiating teams, he said they peddle certain agendas to the press with the hope that they would get better coverage. Unfortunately, he said, the effect of such insidious stories is to paint a picture of glum and gloom about opposition unity. It was clear from the barrage of questions from the press that the BNF was on the back-foot. Letshabo had to field questions about the BNF sincerity in the process. The Sunday Standard reported that the BNF is bent on pulling out of the talks in Koma-style. Letshabo found this view uncharitable. She said she had qualms with a press that seemed to second-guess every legitimate move of the BNF. "If anybody wants to engage us, they should engage us on our official position," she said holding a copy of the Sunday Standard. "We are supposed to be responding to accusations made against us by people that are anonymous? This story quotes people that are very close to the BNF and yet they are not named. Who are these people? Who are we dealing with here?" Not in so many words the press conference was somewhat told that the timing of the declaration could have been done differently. Some even said it was premature. "For instance, I got this declaration at 9 last night and I was expected to sign it in the morning today," said BAM's Setshwaelo. This was not a meeting to blame anybody, perhaps that would harden feelings and politicians do not antagonise a potential ally. Reporters wanted the politicians to blame someone for the non-signing of the declaration but being politicians, they wiggled out of that booby-trap. They completely absolved the BNF from blame saying they understood and appreciated why they need time to consult. In fact, they say the memorandum of understanding they signed last year provides for this. The leaders did not want to go on record blaming the framers and authors of the declaration for springing the document on them on the eve of the signing ceremony. They were very guarded in their admonishment. They used words such as 'premature' to describe the production of the declaration. Without a signed declaration to present to the public, the opposition leaders decided to go ahead and address a public rally. The afternoon rally in Maruapula was no way near carnival. It was a subdued affair attended by pockets of BCP supporters, their flippant BNF counterparts and perhaps an odd BPP and BAM supporter in the small crowd. But in their wisdom, the leaders still insist the opposition movement is a sleeping lion that shall devour everything once its awakened. Setshwaelo believes that it is just a matter of time before the lion wakes up. He said the opposition leaders are driven by Albert Einstien's sagacity that only a lunatic does the same thing over and over again and still expects that the results would be different. "We are not mad. We have learnt our lesson after losing so many times at the hands of Domkrag," he told the press.
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