Masisi promises All-Party Conference
Mompati Tlhankane | Monday January 22, 2024 05:25
Speaking at a media briefing in Moshupa, where he had gone to register to vote last week, the President was adamant that he acted righteously by refusing to accede to opposition calls on him to convene a meeting of parties at a time when there was an ongoing court case revolving around Botswana’s electoral process.
Leading the call was Botswana Congress Party (BCP) via a letter written to Masisi on November 20, 2023 by party leader Dumelang Saleshando. The BCP president had urged Masisi to prioritise the meeting, saying it was long overdue. This week, Masisi said it would have been wrong of him to call a meeting to discuss a matter that was the subject of an ongoing court case.
"In my view, calling on me to call a meeting to address the issue was an attempt to lead me into temptation to break the law," the President said. The court case involved the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) which had taken the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to court seeking an order directing that the opposition coalition be allowed to observe and monitor the process of voter registration.
It was finally settled in favour of the IEC by the Court of Appeal (CoA) which ruled that the UDC had no justifiable right to observe and monitor registration of voters. With Saleshando having indicated that he would be writing another letter to Masisi, the President said while he agrees that an All-Party Conference meeting was overdue, the responsibility to call such a meeting did not fall on his lap but that of Minister of State President.
“The law stipulates exactly why an All-Party Conference is convened. Now that the path has been cleared with the final judgment of the court, I can assure everyone that the conference will be held," the President said, adding that the UDC court case had sought to cause chaos. Masisi said he had no intention to undermine the All-Party Conference, which he said was founded for a good reason to advance Botswana's democracy. Contacted for comment, the minister of State President, Kabo Morwaeng, said he intended consulting with relevant stakeholders prior to convening the All-Party Conference.
“I can assure you that when I return to office the issue will be top of the agenda,” he said briefly. Morwaeng indicated that he was still busy with pushing people to register to vote. Last week Saleshando told the media that they expect a better response from Masisi now that that UDC, IEC registration case is over. He indicated that they want this traditional conference to be held and the observation is that it is slowly fading away. He alleged that there are a lot of shortcomings around elections, no wonder they are pushing for an All-Party Conference.