UDC Talks Collapse

Monkagedi Gaothobogwe | Monday January 30, 2017 14:55

 

The plot has taken a new twist and both Duma Boko (UDC) and Dumelang Saleshando (BCP), the supposedly highest decision making structure in the talks, now having been forced to tear their cooperation document and throw it into the dustbins, while fresh negotiations with the BCP will be discussed by a new super structure that will involve three presidents of the UDC contracting parties facing off with Saleshando of the BCP.

The Monitor has established that the postponement of the announcement that was scheduled to be made by Saleshando and Boko had nothing to do with the alleged unpreparedness of the parties which was used as a reason for the postponement.  The Monitor has been reliably informed that there were no outstanding issues and that the two presidents of the UDC and the BCP, who form the highest decision making body in the negotiations, had actually finalised negotiations, with just the announcement being the only thing remaining.

In fact, the timing of the negotiations scheduled for last week was strategically positioned to go with the happy mood that reigned among the supporters of the coalition from that weekend by-elections that saw the UDC + (the BCP) bagging both council seats in Palapye and Tsabong, leaving the ruling party with lots of problems to deal with.

The Monitor can also confirm that both presidents were ready to give the nation the most anticipated news of opposition cooperation last week Monday, after preparing their document when the BMD and the BPP made last minute demands to have the negotiations started from scratch with the presidents of the BMD and the BPP also sitting at the negotiation table alongside the UDC president, all the three facing off with Saleshando, to consider the BCP integration into the cooperation.

The Monitor can also confirm the last minute move by the UDC contracting parties has enraged the BCP who are also now considering requesting to have the presidents of its own contracting partners such as BAM, NDF, MELS, to also have seats in the new look negotiations to face-off with the BNF, BMD, and the BPP presidents at the new super structure.

Over the weekend, after speaking to sources, The Monitor established that the cooperation talks are not only far from beginning, but had become nastier and dirtier with a new agenda to chase the BCP out of the coalition by pressing it against a brick wall with outrageous demands that would leave them with no choice but to bolt out in the repeat of the pre-2014 general elections scenario. The Monitor has also learnt that besides the BMD and the BPP there is a third force coming from a trade union movement (known to The Monitor) who has thrown its weight behind the BMD and the BPP against Boko and the BCP.

Over the weekend, The Monitor also gathered that a deep mistrust of the UDC president by his own contracting partners, including the influential third force, threatens to undermine Boko’s authority and future as the UDC leader after his contracting partners last week told him they could not trust the agreement he reached with the BCP. Paranoia reigns after unsubstantiated rumours to the effect that Boko may have reached an agreement with his BCP counterpart for a vice president position after the 2019 elections, caught veldt fires within the UDC circle, The Monitor learns.

Those close to the development even fear that the new pressure that is snowballing within the UDC right now could force a frustrated Boko out of the movement as indications swell from within that he has lost control and power.

According to information gathered by The Monitor, Boko is single handedly being fingered for reviving the fortunes of an otherwise dead and finished BCP with his obsession with Saleshando. According to information reaching The Monitor, the new super structure of the opposition talks, among others, intends to force the dropping of the “+” in the “UDC +” name to further frustrate Boko and the BCP. BPP could be the biggest winner in the worst case scenario that could see the BCP abandoning the talks out of frustration, those similar to the latest twists and turns say the BPP though small and insignificant partner could turn out the biggest winner as it stands to increase its constituency allocations from two.

The BPP is among the unhappy lot within the cooperation after it was allotted just two seats to contest for the 2019 general elections, one of them a Serowe constituency where neither itself nor any UDC partner, currently command any significant following. Should the BCP feel the heat and get out of the kitchen however, the BPP has hopes of eating into what would have been the BCP cake, particularly in the north, the sources say. 

BMD chairman Nehemiah Modubule declined to comment while Rev Dr Moiseraele Dibeela, tasked with UDC talks communication said he was still  in church, while an hour later his phone rang unanswered. BCP president, Saleshando said  a media release would be issued out by the UDC early this week. He declined to comment further.