BDP members challenges Tafa�s powers
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Wednesday April 2, 2014 11:03
The motion will be tabled at the BDP’s national council and special congress on Friday and Saturday.
The region resolved last Saturday that it is improper for one person to be party legal advisor, electoral board chairman and advisor to the president.
The region says a party legal advisor, should not be part of any party committee.
Kweneng Regional Chairperson Leo Motlhophi said they need a holistic review of the party’s constitution.
“A legal advisor to the party is the advisor to all party structures. How does one advise a structure that he is involved with? We feel a legal advisor should be a neutral person,” he said.
The region also wants the party president to have his own legal advisor who is not involved with BDP issues. The resolution says the involvement of the legal advisor in party committees compromises his supposed neutrality. “We also want the powers of the electoral board to be reviewed,” said an inside source.
The region attributes Bulela Ditswe’s litany of protests to bias on the part of the electoral board.
Kweneng BDP members also want branch committees to be given powers to distribute party members cards during primary elections, as opposed to leaving the function to the electoral board.
“This is the reason most BDP members did not vote during the primary elections. Some cards were discovered after the elections, a thing that sparked a lot of disputes in the party,” a source said.