Opposition unity: BCP Achilles heel
Mmegi Editor | Friday July 17, 2015 13:57
The congress comes less than a year after the party suffered a humiliating defeat at 2014 general elections.The gathering comes as an opportunity for the party to take stock and look into the future. This now brings to the question, what would the BCP’s future look like? After the 2014 blow, the party is in no better position to challenge the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) during the 2019 general elections. Unless by some miracle, the numbers just do not favour the party of the Lime brand.
It is safe, however, to say that Umbrella for Democratic Change – a coalition of the opposition Botswana National Front (BNF), Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) and Botswana Peoples Party (BPP) – will be the BDP’s real challenger in 2019.
Top of the agenda in Kanye is an issue of opposition cooperation and the election of the new party leadership.
If there is anything that has bitterly divided the once united BCP, is the issue of opposition unity. It is now a party of two strong factions. The factions are not based on ideological differences but of those who are for and those against opposition cooperation.
It is not for us to dictate to the BCP members on whether to join UDC or not. It is for the BCP members to make that call. Be that as it may, we maintain that opposition unity is key, not only to winning power from the BDP but also to strengthening our democracy.
A resolution to join the UDC or to cooperate with the party would resonate well with the more than 52% of voters who voted the opposition in the last general elections.
Ideologically BCP and UDC are not far apart. In fact UDC and BCP members, just before the collapse of the unity talks, jointly crafted some of the UDC policies in 2011.
Issues that divide the two parties are not only minor but to a certain extent petty. But again this is politics, it’s dirty and it’s petty.
Still at the congress, BCP members will have an opportunity to vote for leaders that would take them to the 2019 general elections.
The party president Dumelang Saleshando would not face any significant challenge from the relatively unknown Tebogo Duna. The major contest is expected to be between Kesitegile Gobotswang and Taolo Lucas for the vice presidency.
BCP members should thoroughly examine central committee candidates and vote for leaders with interests of the country and not only the party at heart.
Today’s thought
“I am a strong individualist by personal habit, inheritance, and conviction; but it is a mere matter of common sense to recognise that the State, the community, the citizens acting together, can do a number of things better than if they were left to individual action.”
- Theodore Roosevelt