Our president would not resign

| Friday August 7, 2009 00:00

Well, the President would not resign Sir. Mind you His Excellency was elected by all the 12 regions of the BDP to lead the party for the next 5 years. I know that Dingake's level of thinking is based on yesterday. Given the massive scope of today's local, national and international problems, being political savvy requires, Dingake, that you evaluate leadership integrity qualities that matter most today. Much more than your BCP political party affiliation. Today's problems have become so complex that only those who grasp the complexities of system dynamics are equipped to lead and His Excellency has this understanding very well.

I believe that His Excellency has the skills to focus this country on deep solutions that resolve the root causes of problems rather than surface solutions to control their symptoms. The only way to create real solutions is to separate wisdom from spin and it is most disappointing that Dingake chooses the latter and ignores the fact that His Excellency has the greatest capacity to create synergy and is best equipped to lead the BDP and Botswana in today's world. Which candidates within the BCP or indeed BNF have the greatest skills to lead this country better than our President? I challenge you Dingake to name those candidates so that we may present comparisons and deductions before we call upon the President to resign.

I also challenge Dingake and indeed anyone else to read the BDP Constitution preamble. You will see that this party - the BDP's founding vision was to create a leading political force in Botswana and continue to be a constructive organisation, in which participatory democracy shall be maintained. The BDP constitution protects individual freedom and preserves the common good. His Excellency is passionate about preserving, protecting and defending the core vision of the BDP constitution and above all the constitution of the Republic of Botswana. We cannot be blamed for the opposition parties' lack of vision in electing psychologically-unsound politicians. It is time for voters to evaluate parties and leaders' psychological soundness. His Excellency has demonstrated integrity, poise, stability, clarity and measured responsiveness when the heat is highest and these are good signs of psychological soundness.

Effective leadership requires the ability to navigate complex, ambiguous, contradictory and paradoxical situations with a balance of strength and compassion. We have this in abundance within the BDP. The opposition parties engage in one-sided or black-and-white thinking because they have deficits in being able to tackle our erstwhile President who is this election's chief campaigner. So Dingake our president would not resign.

Dr Batlang Comma Serema
BDP Executive Secretary