Mpotokwane Ponders Revival Of Unity Talks

By Oliver Modise
Staff Writer | Monday April 16, 2007 00:00

Mpotokwane confirmed to Monitor that he has been approached by Botswana Alliance Movement (BAM) president, Lepetu Setshwaelo, to bring back the BNF and BPP to the talks. 'I can confirm that a request has been made by Setshwaelo though a formal response has not been made but I will be happy to help,' he said.

He stated that it is too early to say whether his efforts will disturb progress made by talks between the Botswana Alliance Movement (BAM) and the Botswana Congress Party (BCP). 'I am still looking at the proposal to re-open the talks and weighing options as well as assessing what is possible and what might not be possible,' he said.

He acknowledged that the BNF internal battle might be a stumbling block to efforts to revive the talks. Last year, Mpotokwane convened the unity talks but withdrew when the BNF was knocked out after disagreements over models. The BPP followed the BNF's route after BCP publicity secretary, Dumelang Saleshando, dismissed their suggestion for the parties to disband and form one entity as a laughable non-starter. The BPP had said the parties should merge under its banner and pointed out that the credibility of the opposition parties was at stake.