BCP still powerless after leadership forum
Mompati Tlhankane | Tuesday May 30, 2023 06:00
Saleshando, whose party is currently stuck in the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) because they cannot afford to trigger by-elections, was speaking at the party’s leadership forum held in Palapye.
The BCP joined the UDC in 2017 and contested the 2019 General Election under the coalition but a new piece of legislation that prohibits Parliament floor crossing has been keeping them in a marriage they despise.
The BCP leaders fell out with the UDC leadership last year over governance issues. Currently the BCP has no relationship with the UDC other than the fact that they are council and parliamentary representatives under the coalition. While some expected the party leaders who met in Palapye would announce that they were finally resigning from the UDC, Saleshando basically repeated what he and other leaders of the BCP have been saying for months. He said if there was anyone in doubt, they should not because BCP will not be under the UDC come next year’s general elections.
In January this year, the BCP secretary-general Goretetse Kekgonegile announced at a rally in Maun that the 2024 General Election will be a three-horse race involving the UDC, the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) and their coalition with the Alliance for Progressives (AP) and the Botswana Labour Party (BLP). Although political winds have shifted with the withdrawal of the AP from the talks, Saleshando once again emphasised that clearly they have a three-horse race facing them in 2024.
He said his words were backed by the recent by-elections where no party won the elections with more than 50% majority. Saleshando said even though some people say the BCP has been losing recent by-elections to the UDC, political experts will tell that it shows that the populace has not yet decided. He said they are getting out of the UDC, therefore, Batswana should not be surprised if some turn back. Recently some of the BCP councillors resigned from the party to join the UDC.
He said the UDC is not a place to live in or visit. “The BDP is rotten. You can’t replace a rotten thing (BDP) with another rotten thing (UDC). Batswana should not be given a choiceness choice where they have to decide between Sodom and Gomorrah. There is little choice in a barrel of rotten apples,” he said. The BCP leaders have in recent past revealed that they are duty bound to help the nation minimise costs related to unnecessary by-elections. They disclosed that they cannot quit the ‘people’s project’ yet because the BCP is not an irresponsible party which will unnecessarily cause by-elections in seven constituencies and 78 council wards.
According to the BCP, they have a social contract with the voters. “We are going to finish our contract with the UDC which elapses next year and we intend to finish that contract without any disruptions,” BCP spokesperson, Dr Mpho Pheko told the media recently. When the AP dumped the BCP and the BLP, amongst their reasons they outlined that they were worried the BCP is still stuck in the UDC. “And the decision of whether to withdraw or not withdraw from the UDC will only be taken in July 2023 at the BCP Congress.
Our understanding was that the BCP will have withdrawn from the UDC by January 2023,” AP secretary-general, Phenyo Butale said after their exit. “This situation presents several blind spots as this means the formation and especially the launching of the new coalition, will have to wait until then. We are racing against time and we will not have enough time to sell the new coalition.” The weekend BCP leadership forum was attended by the party leadership including the Central Committee, the Women’s league, the Youth league, regional chairs, constituency chairs and secretaries but they do not have the powers to make the final decision. The BCP has indicated that its fate in the coalition lies with the party’s highest decision-making body, the national conference which will be held in a few months’ time.
The national conference last year in Mahalapye gave the BCP Central Committee six months to iron out governance and constitution issues with the UDC but the Central Committee recommended an exit. At the moment nothing is decided yet until the annual conference decides whether the BCP stays in the UDC or continues with their new coalition with BLP.