BCP to amend the constitution
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Friday July 11, 2014 14:41
The special congress will be held at Ledumang Senior Secondary School in Gaborone and some of the major constitutional amendments expected are those relating to the powers of the vice president and affirmative action.
“The proposed amendments will be debated, and if possible adopted,” said BCP spokesperson Taolo Lucas yesterday
Currently, the vice president’s position is ceremonial as they perform duties assigned by the Central Committee or the party president. The vice president was only going to discharge functions of the office of the president whenever the incumbent is absent or sick. In the proposed amendments apart from the aforementioned duties, the vice president will now convene and chair meetings of the policy forum and is responsible for overall policy development in the party.
In the proposed amendment to Article 7 on the affirmative action, it states that each individual members’ rights is to take part in the affairs of the party, to initiate and participate freely in party debates on the on the formulation and implementation of party policies and programs.
“The members also have the right to demand fulfilment of what is established in the constitution as well as resolutions, decisions, directions and agreements of the party and also to put forward proposals and defend his/her opinion before any agreement is reached on the matter under discussions,” it states.
What affirmative action intends to do is to put women, youth and the disadvantaged in the running of the party as well as decision making processes. However, some members feel that there should be guidelines on how this is going to be applied. According to a source, gender might be favoured over merit since it is not clear on how it will be implemented.
The concerned members feel that the way the affirmative action is going to be implemented might backfire or become problematic in the party. The other proposed amendments include the powers of the central committee to expel a member and remove any member of the committee who without good/valid reason fails to attend three consecutive meetings.
“Such a member shall be replaced by another member co-opted by the committee in a properly constituted meeting,” reads the amendment.
The central committee shall have power to delegate its powers to such officers and committees and sub committees and upon such terms as from time to time it shall see fit. The central committee shall have powers to establish and constitute committees or any other structures it deems necessary to help it execute its mandate. In the current constitution, the BCP has no place for sub-committees.
The sub-committees include the policy forum, international affairs, the finance, political mobilisation, elections, political education, and marketing and communication.
The proposed amendments include the one for membership subscriptions. Each individual member shall pay a minimum membership subscription as shall be prescribed from time to time by the central committee. A member who fails to renew membership shall forfeit voting rights three months after such renewal become due, provided that the party may upon good grounds condone such default.