BDP national council to test party unity
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Monday June 27, 2022 06:00
Through the occasion, members thronged Kanye village to witness the Women’s Wing's change of guard as Cabinet Minister Peggy Serame was crowned the organ's chairperson at the 17th elective congress in Kanye.
Prior to the event, the BDP had put its elective offices on hold for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though the weekend event was a women’s congress, it had attracted both women and men folks.
The elective congress came about in the background of challenges bedevilling the BDP. Speaking at the Women's Wing congress, the BDP and State President Mokgweetssi Masisi advised BDP members to take advantage of the infighting within the opposition parties and use it to unite.
He told the congress that it is time they forgive each other and focus on building the party and winning the 2024 general election with a high popular vote. The President said his aim is for the party's popular vote to increase to 60 or 70 percent in the coming general election.
“I don’t want to hear any divisional issues or stories at the National Council. What the party needs is to come up with policies that could help change someone’s life. We have made promises to Batswana during the 2019 general election; we have delivered some of the promises and we have to do so for those that we haven’t done.
This is our party, not my party. We all own it and therefore, let us work for it,” said Masisi. He also advised the members that the party could not go on without volunteers as it needs them to survive.
The President requested members to take advantage of opposition disputes by recruiting both new and opposition members to their party. Recently, some councillors petitioned the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development over a six percent salary increase something that raised fear that the Masisi-led government was losing grip. The Women's Wing elective congress came at a time when the BDP was still grappling with its poor performance in the council by-elections where the ruling party had won only three council wards with difficulty and lost nine to the opposition.
This record did not go well with the party leadership as it blamed internal squabbles as the reason for its poor showing. The other issue that the party leadership is worried about is incessant internal fights at different party structures.
These internal squabbles extended to the elections for council chairpersons and deputies as well as mayors and deputies where some of the best performing mayors and chairpersons were ousted just to satisfy factional needs. Another contentious issue relates to the fact that some BDP members are not comfortable with the fact that party leaders seem to be favouring some new members, especially those who come from opposition parties. It is common cause in the BDP that some councillors openly attacked some Cabinet Ministers and threatened to have them ousted in the upcoming primary elections (Bulela Ditswe).
This led to some of the councillors suspended for indiscipline.
However, BDP members are expected to voice out their concerns at the coming National Council, which is the policy-making body of the party and quash out some policies that they feel the government is wasting money on. The party is expected to use the policymaking National Council to further articulate issues that can bring the elusive peace to the party. In 2010, the BDP had its first split after the party's National Council as some members were not happy with certain decisions that the party intended to make.
Usually, the National Council will reveal the mood of the members and how they view certain issues within the party especially when it seems President Masisi has calmed the waters at the just ended Women's Wing elective congress. It is at the National Council that party members debate issues openly without fear or favour and they even ensure that some ministers account for their ministries at party level.
At the same time, the council can make recommendations that could turn the party around and ensure peace and unity. The National Council makes recommendations to the party congress that could be either endorsed or rejected.