Dow saga: A litmus test for BDP inner democracy
Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Monday April 10, 2023 06:00
Dow has been on a war-path with her party since she left her ministerial post last year. And her latest saga could be a serious test of the BDP’s inner party democracy.
The outspoken legislator first broke ranks with her party in 2021 during her response to the State of the Nation Address (SONA) delivered by Masisi. Then, Dow requested her MPs especially those in the BDP to speak with one voice and called for a commission of inquiry on the Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS) to find out if it is still in line with its founding Act or not.
In a bold statement that many viewed as breaking ranks with the BDP, she said the most fundamental promise the BDP made to the electorate in 2019 was that it would restore good governance and the rule of law. Dow has done it again; this time allegedly defying the party caucus on the removal of Kgosi Mosadi Seboko from the Pan African Parliament and becoming the replacement.
But Dow declined the offer after Kgosi Mosadi issued a statement to the effect that she did not resign, a move which has led the BDP chief whip, Liakat Kablay to report her to the BDP Disciplinary Committee.
She has grabbed the opportunity given to her by the party’s disciplinary committee to respond to the charges levelled against her with both hands and touched areas that could stoke a reality check of her party’s democratic principles.
In response to the charges laid against her which relate to her differing with the President on the issue of the role of the Attorney General (AG) and on the specific issue of who takes instructions from who, between the AG and the President, Dow is defiant and not apologetic. She says her debates on the AG’s role was in response to the Minister of Justice Machana Shamukuni’s presentation in Parliament and not to the President’s views, which Masisi expressed at a press conference. “I consider it my duty to clear any misconception the public may have about the role of any office of the government. We habitually congratulate ourselves for being ‘the beacon of democracy in Africa’ precisely because we cherish the right to think and the freedom to express ourselves, both of which are enshrined in the nation’s Constitution,” she argues.
Dow is of the view that if Kablay holds a different view from her on the role of the AG, the course is open for him to express same in Parliament, but not to lodge a complaint against her. She also goes on to say that Kablay must expect that every word that the President utters is open to examination, re-examination and analysis and fact-checking.
“That is the nature of politics. The suggestion that no one is allowed to disagree with the President is a dangerous proposition and is totally at odds with what one expects in a democracy,” she says. However, it is known that those that seem to go against the party president are victimised. The party has a history of muzzling its members, especially when the party leadership is mentioned. Dow wrote her comments alive to the fact that the BDP as a party can be vindictive even to its members.
It is not far-fetched to say that she knows that the words would not be acceptable. Dow will not be embraced, but the party will pull all stops to find fault with her and deal with her ruthlessly. The BDP Disciplinary Committee now has its job cut for it to resolve the matter fairly. The BDP has a history of a troubled inner-party democracy as such Dow’s actions could provide a litmus test of the part’s inner democracy.