BMD, BCP in exclusive courtship of BNF

EPHRAIM KEORENG
Staff Writer | Tuesday January 17, 2012 00:00

 

The latest in the crescendo of animosity between the two camps is that each is courting the Botswana National Front (BNF) for cooperation at the expense of the other. Last week the BNF received letters with conflicting requests from the two parties where each sought a deal that will see them in cooperation with BNF.

The BCP is proposing an exclusive deal of an unspecified model as a means to topple the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) in the 2014 general elections and is asking for a preliminary meeting to consider outlines.'We are focused on engaging the BNF and believe with them we can find an alternative to the umbrella,' says BCP spokesman, Taolo Lucas.

On the other hand, the BMD is similarly courting the BNF but has extended an invitation to the Botswana Peoples Party (BPP) to form a troika that excludes the BCP.

In response to a question, BMD spokesman Winfred Rasina says the BCP is being excluded 'because after the umbrella talks, it has since become clear that the three of us (the BNF, the BMD and the BPP) are positive that the talks can continue and bear fruit. We don't have as many differences among ourselves as we do with the BCP.' The umbrella talks collapsed days before Christmas mainly after the BMD and the BCP differed over incumbency and allocation of constituencies.

BCP leader Dumelang Saleshando said that they had no qualms about the BMD's snub but warned that an opposition cooperation deal that excluded either his party or the BNF would spell doom for elections. 'Before the talks collapsed, the BNF and the BCP made a joint proposal to the BMD which they (the BMD) rejected,' Saleshando said. 'So what they should have done is to make a new offer to the two of us. If they think there is value in excluding us, they should go ahead.'But any cooperation that excludes the BNF or the BCP is not about winning in 2014. At the 2009 general elections, we cooperated with others. However, we did not have the BNF in our partnership, hence - far from winning the elections - we only managed to improve our performance at the polls.' He said of the BMD's snub: 'I think this is an angry attempt by (some) people. Maybe they need to be given a cooling off period.'

The secretary general of the BNF, Akanyang Magama, has confirmed that his party has received the two letters from the erstwhile opposition partners. Magama said their executive committee had since decided that the BNF would simply write to acknowledge receipt of the letters because a decision on the way forward would only be made at the party's next central committee meeting. He emphasised that the BNF remained open to discussion of possible areas of cooperation.