Ntuane fancies his chances to defend seat
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Thursday April 13, 2017 14:29
Those close to Ntuane say that their man was sensing a tough competition from Nkate, a former secretary general of the BDP. Ntuane has registered to contest the secretary general position for bargaining purpose in future and will battle against former secretary general Mpho Balopi and Nkate.
Apparently Ntuane assessed the people that support his man for the chairpersonship of the party, minister Nonofo Molefhi and came to the conclusion that most are losers. Some of Molefhi’s supporters include the vocal Tebelelo Seretse, assistant minister Biggie Butale and Dikgakgamatso Seretse. The trio stood for the chairpersonship in Mmadinare three years ago and were humiliated by vice president Masisi. They still have a bone to grind against Masisi and it is believed that Ntuane felt that with the terrible losers in the slate, Molefhi’s team is “very weak”.
“He was also worried that should he lose against Nkate his political obituary would be published. His team has assessed the situation and read the mood of BDP members on what they want. What is not clear is whether they support the whole lobby list or not. Remember in Mmadinare his team wanted him to contest as mokoko and he won,” the source said. Another source said recently Ntuane’s team has been touring the country to lure support for him and also assessing his chances of winning.
The source continued: “This July congress means a lot to all teams and there is no team that wants to lose. If Molefhi or Masisi team lose, their political life will be over. Dynamics are always changing in politics. Today you are a favourite and tomorrow you are a bad guy. The party also need people who are committed to work for it day and night. United opposition is a threat to us”.
The source said the members at the congress are likely to ignore lobby lists when they elect their candidates. However one of Ntuane’s lead camapigners Thabo Masalila dismissed allegations that Ntuane was considering not defending his seat but is confident of victory. Masalila said: “We are confident that Ntuane will retain his seat. Of course Nkate was going to give us a tight competition if he was still with Masisi’s team. With Nkate being mokoko he has lost some supporters in Masisi camp and Ntuane will capitalise”.
Masalila said Ntuane’s followers support Molefhi for chairperson seat because he (Molefhi) would be able to prepare and revive structures for 2019 preparation. “We do not want an interim chairperson who will serve for six months or less. We need a chairperson who can engage members and work with them without favouring anyone to bring peace and stability in the party.” Ntuane said he could not comment on the issue since he was not well.