BDP set for collapse - Pilane

EPHRAIM KEORENG
Staff Writer | Wednesday May 26, 2010 00:00

 

In an interview with Mmegi, BMD's, Sidney Pilane, said the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) structures from the constituencies to the central committee are weak and exist only in name.

He said the structures are dependant upon Khama, whom, he says, dictates the agenda and decisions of the structures, especially the central committee. 'When Khama leaves, the BDP will collapse because he is a living spirit within the BDP and everyone else is a member of the fan club. When the star goes, the club dies,' he said.

Pilane said everybody in the BDP 'listens to him and is ready to do what he wants. He runs the party on his own.That is why the central committee cannot meet without him. They have to wait for him to come and say what he has decided. They just move to his command,' he said.

In response, BDP spokesman, Segaetsho Garekwe, said he is shocked that Pilane could claim to talk knowingly about the goings-on of the central committee when he has never been a member of the politburo.

'I have always challenged Pilane and his friends to point out to an instance in which Khama overruled the whole central committee, but they have never given me a single example. It's not true that Khama totally controls everything in the party,' he said.

'The BDP will not collapse after Khama,' he said. The ruling party spokesman said Pilane is wallowing in wishful thinking when he says the BDP will be destroyed.

'Actually it's the survival of the BMD that will be short-lived. I don't think they will survive up to 2014 general election. They would have fought many times,' said Garekwe.

Meanwhile, the BMD spokesperson said they will have a convention in Gaborone over the weekend to launch the party, which has been registered with the registrar of societies.

Pilane said they are expecting multitudes of people and they have asked that each of the 57 constituencies send ten delegates. 'Besides them, there will be MPs and councillors,' he said.