The BPF quit the UDC, an opposition coalition last month. In the main, the BPF said it was not happy with the number of constituencies and wards it was allocated to contest in the 2024 General Election.
Mmegi has established that a delegation from the BPF led by former spy chief, Isaac Kgosi, recently met with presidents of parties making up the UDC in a bid to iron out their differences over constituencies and wards allocations.
Other members of the BPF delegation were Victor Mthee, Ford Moiteela and BPF secretary-general (SG) Lawrence Ookeditse.
The UDC is currently made up of Botswana National Front (BNF), Botswana People’s Party (BPP) and Alliance for Progressives (AP). Sources claim that the meeting did not advance any further as the UDC stood firm, insisting that reconciliation talks cannot proceed unless the BPF reverses its decision to leave the coalition. “The UDC leaders maintained that it is not logical to explore reconciliation with the BPF while the latter is not part of the coalition. The BPF delegation then indicated that it would share the position of the UDC with the party NEC and give feedback,” said an insider this week.
Sources also claim that some of those who are in the NEC support the UDC position. Mmegi has since learnt that on Monday this week, Kgosi and his team briefed the NEC about the conditions set by the UDC in order for reconciliation talks to proceed. It is reported that the NEC has since resolved that Kgosi and his team should initiate another meeting with the UDC where they will also set out the BPF’s counter conditions for reconciliation talks to advance.
One of the conditions that will reportedly be proposed by the BPF is that the UDC should give assurances that the former will be allocated more constituencies if it reverses its decision to quit the coalition. However, sources say that it is highly unlikely that the UDC will give guarantees that the BPF will be allocated more constituencies if it chooses to reverse its decision, a move that will eventually close room for reconciliation between the two parties. The other stumbling block to reconciliation efforts is that the UDC has already reallocated some of the constituencies as well as wards that were initially allocated to the BPF before the latter quit the coalition.
The BPF has also issued a writ for its primary elections, something which observers say highlight that the party is not keen to resolve its differences with its coalition partners. The first round of the primaries will be on May 18 this year. Ookeditse confirmed that reconciliatory talks with the UDC took place recently but declined to go into details. “We will be negotiating in bad faith if we are to discuss details relating to our reconciliation talks with the media, especially looking at what is at stake. “What I can only confirm is that we met with our counterparts from the UDC. We have since shared the feedback from the UDC with those who sent us (NEC).
They have also given us the feedback which we are to share with the UDC, and we will take it from there,” he said. On the other hand, UDC spokesperson Moeti Mohwasa said that he is not aware of any reconciliatory meeting with the BPF. “I am not aware of any talks that were held. If at all any talks were held the NEC will be properly briefed,” Mohwasa said.
