BPP unsettled at opposition pact in Tonota

Correspondent | Wednesday August 18, 2010 00:00

The party leadership is not agreed on opposition cooperation there. According to impeccable sources, there is a group in the BPP leadership which feels that the party can benefit more by cooperating with the ruling party. 

The group, which consists mainly of members who recently joined the BPP from the BCP, including party president, Whyte Marobela, argues that the BPP has not benefited anything from past election pacts with the opposition, adding that instead, the party lost its members to the parties it went into alliances with. So serious is the fallout that when the proposal was made at a recent central committee meeting, some members walked out.

Contacted for comment, the secretary general of the BPP, Shathiso Tambula, said he had no problem working with any party including the BDP as long as it is for the benefit of the party and Batswana in general.

He said he understood congress mandate to talk to other political parties to have included the BDP.

He insists that the idea of talking to the BDP was made by somebody as a proposal which needed to be discussed without people walking out of the meeting. He added that, by the same token, some people wanted no talks at all while others favoured talks with the other opposition parties. Regarding Tonota North, Tambula said they are still unsure as a party whether they will be able to go and assist the BCP campaign effort at the by-election.

He said the fact that the party withdrew its candidate in Tonota North and went on to tell its members in the constituency to vote for Dr Habaudi Hobona, constitutes support for the BCP.

Marobela, says that the non-participation of the BPP in the by-election is caused by the fact that no formal agreement has been made between the BCP and his party.  Asked whether it is true that he personally favours cooperation with the BDP, Marobela reacted angrily: 'Just close that chapter because I do not want to discuss that issue. This is not for public consumption. Go back to whoever told you the story to give you the details'.  The national chairman of the BPP, Richard Gudu, the party secretary for legal and constitutional affairs, Kumbulani William and the administrative secretary, Councillor Mathews Robby, say they have been fighting the BDP since independence. It would be politically awkward to support it adding that the two parties have different political beliefs.

In their view, the BPP was instructed by their congress to assist the BCP in Tonota North and failure to do so would be an act of betrayal to the party.

As a result of that, the three party officials, along with others in the central committee, will lead a team of BPP campaigners to Tonota North this week.

The president of the BPP Youth League is worried that some people in the leadership are too close to the BDP.  He is adamant that beginning this week, his organisation will camp in Tonota North to help the BCP in its endeavours to win the constituency. At the BPP congress this July, the party leadership was mandated to enter into cooperation with the other opposition parties for the 2014 general election.

The closest the BPP has thus far come to assisting the BCP in the Tonota North by-election was when the party delegated the deputy president of the Youth League to give a solidarity message at the launch of the BCP candidate at Borolong on August 7.  Meanwhile, the Botswana National Front delegated its secretary general, Akanyang Magama, publicity secretary, Moeti Mohwasa, and the secretary general of the Youth League, Arafat Khan, among other high-ranking party officials. In his address to the rally, Magama apologised for the absence of his party president, Duma Boko, whom he promised would come at a later date to give support to the BCP.

The BPP delegate gave a brief speech, saying nothing about the whereabouts of his principals. The Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) delegation was led by the party chairman, Gomolemo Motswaledi.

It consisted of the deputy chairman, Botsalo Ntuane, the party spokesperson, Sydney Pilane, and most of the BMD MPs. 

Since the launch, the BCP, BNF and BMD have campaigned together at public rallies and house-to-house visits. The BPP has not been visible in the constituency.