Opposition parties reach compromise
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Friday February 3, 2017 16:35
The outcome of the negotiation talks is expected to be announced today at the Oasis Motel. The Botswana Congress Party (BCP) and the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) on Wednesday met and agreed that the name UDC will be used in the 2019 elections and the party shall have two vice presidents.
The UDC has agreed to second VP as proposed by the BCP. The Botswana People’s Party (BPP) has been given the chairmanship of the UDC.
The Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) president Ndaba Gaolathe will be the first vice president responsible for policies and economic issues while the BCP president Dumelang Saleshando will deal with some of the roles that could be dealt with by the secretary general.
According to a source, the roles will be clarified by the UDC national executive committee in their next meeting.
“The announcement will be basically on the top four positions and how the parties will be working out.
The cooperation does not mean that the parties have formed one party. Clause 8.1 of the UDC constitution states that, “group members shall remain autonomous bodies governed by their own constitutions, but they shall abide by this (the UDC) constitution and the policies of the Umbrella still stands,” the source said.
The source further revealed that the UDC has to deal with the allocation of wards as well as constituencies allocated to the BPP as they want them be increased.
The source said some of the constituencies that the BPP want are the ones that had been given to the BCP. During the last elections, the BCP was voted for with large numbers compared to UDC, something that even their partners are not comfortable with.
UDC spokesperson Moeti Mohwasa said he cannot divulge anything regarding the talks until the announcement has been made.
Early this week, the UDC and BCP had been differing on the name that will be used in 2019. Some wanted it to be called UDC + while others wanted the name UDC retained.