Masire speech divides BDP congress
Staff Writer | Monday June 8, 2015 18:03
During the elective regional conference, former minister Peter Siele stood to read a letter from the former President, which openly backed Vice President Mokgweetsi Masisi to the chairmanship position. Masisi is one of the five contenders for the number two position to be elected at the July Congress in Mmadinare.
Masire’s message is said to have caused uproar at the meeting, which was attended by among others candidates for the BDP chairmanship race; including Masisi, Biggie Butale and Seteng Motalaote as well as representatives of other contestants in the race.
Reading from a piece of paper, Siele is said to have told the congress that Masire’s message, read only in English, stated that the statesman was very happy that a southerner, Masisi, was the Vice President of the country and that as the southern region, they should support the VP for the chairman position.
Siele confirmed to The Monitor having read the letter from the former President to the Jwaneng congress, but insisted that the contents should not be ascribed to him (Siele), as he was only relaying the message of Masire and not his own.
Asked to clarify how he got Masire’s letter, Siele said he was passed the message to read by an official of the committee because he (Siele) was seen as a neutral person since he was not contesting any position.
At the congress, several speakers who included Fankie Motsaathebe, rumoured to be eyeing the newly vacant MP seat of Pitsane/Mabule, criticised Masire’s message for being divisive.
Some attendants even approached Siele to show them the message he was reading, so that they can confirm that indeed the former President said those things. Among the chairmanship contenders who asked to be shown the letter was Seteng Motalaote. He, however, played down his actions when The Monitor sought his comment.
“There is nothing really, I just wanted to see, but mogolo a bo a gana,” said Motalaote, adding that “there was a statement that was made by Masire, whom I respect so much. Just like we would do, asking for a copy of the programme at the funeral, I asked to see it. It was not a controversial act, please.”
Lentswe Mosanako, who was elected the chairman of the southern region at the congress, described Masire’s message as solidarity message.“It was just one paragraph massage. He was expressing his feelings when he said we should vote for Masisi. Siele was reading it in English, emphasising that we should show solidarity for our vice president,” said the newly elected chairman, who also hails from the Vice President’s village of Moshupa. However, some angry contestants told The Monitor on condition of anonymity that they phoned Masire, who was out of the country, to register their concerns.