The raging battle for BDP SG position
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Monday January 31, 2022 06:00
This will not be the first time the issue crops up since it was once rejected by members of the party at their congress. At the time, some felt that every member should be allowed to contest for the position while at the same time employed elsewhere. A motion was tabled on the matter at the Mmadinare congress in 2015 and it has since been resurrected.
According to the BDP constitution, one has to write to the party executive secretary to seek a constitutional amendment so that the matter could be discussed by party regions and structures. The party constitution article 42.1.1 reads; “any member, committee or organ of the party may propose an amendment to the party constitution or regulation by submitting, the proposed amendment to the executive secretary not later than four calendar months to the next meeting of the national council; the executive secretary shall immediately bring to the attention of the secretary-general of the party such proposed amendment.
At the Mmadinare congress, the members said the SG position is so powerful and therefore, it should be held by someone who is able to work with every member rather than a person who wants to satisfy the needs of the party leadership only. Even now, one of the burning issues among the members is that the SG who is paid by the party could easily compromise Bulela Ditswe internal electoral system to favour certain people especially those who will be members of the party central committee at that particular time.
The party congress is scheduled to be held in July and already some party structures are holding branch congresses to choose delegates that will vote at the party main congress. For an example, over the weekend, the Molepolole South constituency elected its new branch committee members and delegates for the congress. Political analyst Lesole Machacha said the move to employ the SG on full-time basis could be of benefit to the party since the position has a lot of work which needs one to have enough time for the party without other engagements. “The SG position is a powerful position that takes care of the party and its activities. It is time parties consider moving in that direction if at all that needs members to be very active for their movement. That is so because the SG needs to ensure that all party structures are active and do not collapsed.
The reason why the parties are not doing well is simply that they only care about party structures when it's election time or during congresses or conferences. That is completely wrong because a party cannot exist without structures since it is easy for it to fail if it ignores structures,” Machacha said in an interview on Tuesday. In addition, the political analyst said the position needs someone who is independent so that she or he does not act on factional lines. He said at times the SG fails to perform their duties because they are forced to act based on factions they belong to.
The political analyst also said during party primaries, if the SG is fully employed by the party, then the person will be able to handle the procedure well without depending on Tsholetsa House workers only as the person will be part of them. He added: “Since Bulela Ditswe inception, there have been complaints of how the process has been handled.
The SG, who is going to be employed, should not be someone who has interest in contesting for primary elections so that the members can trust her/him to handle voters' rolls without interference. Then the SG will be able to handle some members complaints that some workers at Tsholetsa House interfere with the system so that their friends win primaries.
The SG will make sure that there is transparency and that will improve the party internal systems. Even disgruntled Tsholetsa House workers who cry foul about their salaries will be addressed by the SG since they fall under his/her portfolio.” Another political analyst, Keaoleboga Dipogiso shared similar sentiments. “I think it's a good idea to have an organisation run by full-time organisers, managed from a central point. This, if properly implemented, where a properly qualified candidate is selected, will ensure that the party's administrative processes are presided over by a professional without much (immediate) political interest in party positions. And, therefore, is a dichotomy between political and administrative processes. The bias and conflict of interest of party political officials will be mediated,” said Dipogiso.
He said the danger lies, however, in the over-bureaucratisation of the party including where political decisions are taken by the administration and its political power usurped from the central committee and other political structures of the party. Dipogiso said it can lead to a crisis where the deployed cadre and the party central committee collude to take full control of the party.