BDP decision surprises regional boss

RYDER GABATHUSE
Staff Writer | Monday November 22, 2010 00:00

 

'The congress has been postponed indefinitely by the party central committee. In my region, I am not aware of anything that could have necessitated the postponement. For us the stage was already set for the elections,' Botho Ntirang said on Friday.

He stated that they had to obey the instructions of the party leadership and wait until they are given the go ahead to proceed again. The eagerly awaited elections were to be held in Matsiloje on Saturday.

Reports indicate that the polls could not be held because one of the contestants wrote to the party leadership complaining about dirty tricks in the campaigns. It is understood the complainant did not route the letter through the regional committee.

BDP executive assistant, Lee Lesetedi told The Monitor last Friday that the postponement was an executive decision precipitated 'by some issues that have cropped up in the region and until the issues are sorted out the congress shall remain postponed'.

'There are issues that have been raised by some of the contestants,' he added. He was not certain when the issues would be resolved.

Francistown BDP region has been unstable for a long time and the postponement is just another chapter in its turbulent history. There is talk that to party officials could be dispatched to the region in another effort to restore peace.

The next BDP central committee meeting is expected to determine the complaint purportedly raised by the unidentified member, which caused the postponement. Despite the continued problems in Francistown, Ntirang has sought to portray the region as one of the most peaceful in the BDP after the departure of the Barataphathi factionalists to form the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD).