BPF back to the drawing board

Mmegi Editor | Monday May 1, 2023 06:00

The party took the local political scene by storm in 2019 following its formation by disgruntled members of the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP. The party put up a good fight during the General Election that year although it failed in its mission to oust the ruling party from government.

The BPF, which was formed predominantly by BDP members majority of whom had lost in the ruling party’s primaries, has been experiencing an exodus of members. Most of those who are leaving the party are retracing their steps to their old political home, the BDP. Interestingly, leadership differences at the BPF are not precipitated by ideological differences but rather personal matters.

The two warring BPF factions with the incumbent party president, Butale leading one side and the other led by Tshekedi Khama, the party secretary-general are simply tearing asunder what is left of the organisation.

They seem to be picking unnecessary fights instead of sitting down to resolve their differences instead of going at each other’s throats. For the longest time now, the BPF factions have been fighting for the soul of the party and they have forgotten about selling the party to the masses ahead of the 2024 General Election.

They have forgotten that it’s critical for them to sell their manifesto to the masses rather than fight for party positions to the extent of hating each other in the name of the party.

Perhaps, wise counsel for the BPF is to tread carefully and learn to resolve differences within the party in a civil manner. Parliament last week declared Serowe West constituency vacant after Tshekedi Khama, who was the Member of Parliament, absented himself from the National Assembly for two consecutive sittings. One would think that this is where the party should be putting its focus in for now if they are to retain the constituency.

It will be foolhardy for the BPF leadership to fight for its interests and forget that it is where it is because of the general membership. Looking at the history of the current ruckus bedevilling the party, it didn’t even require the intervention of a court of law for the warring parties to listen to each other. The parties have the party constitution to guide them on what steps to take.

But, Butale found himself with no choice but to run to the court of law to escape from his detractors who wanted to push him out. Remember, Butale survived an attempt to remove him from office after he was charged with an offence that those who had suspended him never cared to prove the matter until he was returned.

He should also be warned that having a court victory is not sufficient as what he needs to do now is to stabilise the party that has proven to be unstable lately. The BPF has to go back to the drawing board in an endeavour to renew itself lest it becomes irrelevant in the volatile political landscape.

Today’s thoughts

“Do not let the behaviour of others destroy your inner peace.” —Dalai Lama