Dumelang Saleshando went on Facebook to wash his hands.
In a carefully scripted “it wasn’t me” lobbed over his page, the Botswa-na Congress Party president pleaded his innocence: “For those of you who wish to get the facts, the BCP team in Parliament was approached by the BNF asking us for our support as their leadership has decided that they should take over as leader of opposition. We agreed to support them and added our signatures to the letter they had written to the Speaker. In terms of the rules of Parliament, no party qualifies to be designated as main opposition and provide leader of opposition. It is therefore for the opposition collective to decide who should lead them. There are 17 opposition MPs, 11 want Mabiletsa to take over as their leader. Those who support values of democracy should have no problem accepting the will of the majority. It is a matter of time, the will of the majority will have to prevail, as it has always prevailed in the past when the majority wanted Ntuane to be leader of opposition!”
As this paper went to press, the World Wide Web was already raging over whether Saleshando’s explanation is worth the bandwidth. The ouster of Botsalo Ntuane as Leader of Opposition was supposed to be a coup for the BCP and a faction of their sympathisers in the BNF. The letter arrived on the Speakers’ desk less than 24 hours before Parliament convened on Friday. It was from 11 BCP and BNF Members of Parliament requesting the Speaker to drop BMD Vice President Botsalo Ntuane as Leader of Opposition and replace him with BNF’s Isaac Mabiletsa. The Friday morning maneuverings of the BNF/BCP parliamentarians were extraordinary, even by Botswana’s rancorous parliamentary standards.
It could have been a textbook case of a political coup in the cloak-and-dagger world of opposition politics but for one omission. Somehow, the BNF and BCP legislators forgot that their proposal could only be considered lawful and valid if a formal coalition existed between the two parties. The Friday crash and burn of the BNF/BCP parliamentarians plan on the parliament floor has turned would be heroes of a palace coup into bungling villains. Reputations are on the line and everyone is rushing to wash the dirt off their hands before the finger pointing begins. For Saleshando, whose signature tops the list of coup plotters, it will probably take more than a Facebook entry to clear his name. The BCP’s part in the coup attempt has provided fodder for conspiracy theorists who believe there is a grand plan by Saleshando and his followers to kill the BNF. This comes less than a month after the Botswana National Front Youth League put together a “confidential” position paper stating that “in pursuit of making the BCP a party of choice, the BCP made many shifts and turns all meant to ensure that the BCP after 2014 and beyond emerge as the sole contender for state power. In implementing its strategic plan, BCP looks for a partner which in the ultimate, the BCP intends to annihilate politically”.
The report further states that from inception, the BCP strategy was to annihilate the BNF.
“Ultimately, the strategic plan of the BCP aims at swallowing other par-ties or making the BNF a relic of the past…Does the BNF intend to fold its arms and watch helplessly the BCP dominate it or swallow it or reduce it to a relic of the past?” The answer is a big no. The BNF must refrain from being used as a political pawn or decoy by the BCP, that is, the BNF must put its foot down and stop the BCP from dictating terms to it. The BNF must cease forthwith from being used by the BCP in implementing its (BCP) 2014 and beyond strategic plan of making BCP the party of choice whilst at the same time rendering the BNF a relic of the past.”
The youth league advised the BNF to “resist BCP overtures of ousting Hon. Botsalo Ntuane from the post of leader of opposition, rather the BNF should negotiate with BMD for Ntuane to complete his two years (2011-2012) on the post and then give it to the BNF for the remaining two years (2013-2014). In other words the BNF should opt for an alternate system of two years apiece between BMD and BNF. Why can’t BCP oust BMD mayors unceremoniously where the BCP shares power with BMD? Why is it that the BCP wants the BNF to oust Ntuane in an unceremonious and uncivilized manner? The answer is the BCP strategy is to see the BNF and BMD hating each other because the BCP is worried by the warm relationship the BNF has with BMD and BCP alike. The BCP wants itself to be kingmaker and no one else.”
While Saleshando may be having a public relations nightmare on his hands, spare a thought for BNF president, Duma Boko, and his number two who are engaged in a bitter head butting match while the party falls apart. It is a remarkable turnaround. After his resounding victory at the last party congress, Boko boasted of spending political capital to rebuild the party. No longer. Boko is confronting the nightmare of any BNF President in the twilight of their career: he is becoming a lame duck. At the centre of Boko’s troubles is the controversial opposition umbrella project. For the past weeks, political observers have watched Boko and his lieutenants flirting with the BMD while his number two and his followers were cozying up with the BCP. The party membership has been watching in confusion at a president and his deputy suddenly lurching, rather than governing, at the apex of the BNF power.
This is the cartoon version of the difficult choices facing the BNF leadership utterly at odds over who to pick as an election pact partner between the BCP and the BMD. The wind behind Boko’s popularity remains his youthful charm and mass appeal in the party- this in addition to the underestimated, tactile skills of a quick-witted politician. But behind the stage set a mesh of policy snags, and controversies over the opposition umbrella project threatens to ensnare a leader whose shortcomings ÔÇô although very few – are being targeted by his opponents. While Boko’s supporters see grave danger in partnering with the BCP, his detractors mindset still see the BMD as the Botswana Democratic Party in orange masquerade.
The ghosts of Moupo and Koma stalk BNF’s corridors of power. Boko, the boy-wonder, to whom the entire BNF membership has been on its knees for some time now seems to be in the doghouse. With all his six parliamentarians and two central committee members having turned against him and teamed up with the BCP, the recently untouchable party president seems to be losing his mojo and may spend the last year of his term in office as a lame duck president. The latest rebuff to his authority was the decision by Mabiletsa, his vice president, and five other parliamentarians to go against party position and plot to oust Ntuane as leader of opposition. With a party tittering on the brink of a crisis, Boko’s hands will be tied and may not risk disciplinary action against his number two and his followers without rocking the party vote.
No one knows for certain how Boko and Mabiletsa will tread in the remaining months before the party congress next year, but there will definitely be a lot of tears before bedtime. Mabiletsa will remain the party’s second in command until the next congress but most likely on a shorter leash. Very few, however, see them emerging out from the congress still President and Vice President. With the party tottering on shaky legs, something has to give. In now remains to be seen which will be the first to cave in, the party or the relationship between party president and his second in command.
Ntuane and his party have not fared any better in the failed coup attempt. Pyrrhic victories do not come much more painful. The BMD Vice President won the humiliating distinction of clinging on to power without the support of other opposition MPs besides those of his party. And just when he thought it could not get any worse, BDP parliamentarians decided to turn the drama into a Constitutional crisis.
The BDP will tomorrow ( Monday) table a motion requesting the Speaker of the National Assembly to declare the position of Leader of Opposition vacant. This is because the Parliament Standing Orders do not provide for a tie in the number of opposition party MPs. With BMD and BNF tied at six MPs apiece, none can claim to be the majority opposition party and so far they have not been able to reach an agreement.
Ntuane may this week have to hand in the keys to his black chauffeur driven BMW and surrender all the creature comforts that go with his plum post. This marks a new low point in the relationship between the BNF, BMD and BCP following a calamitous year that saw the ambitious umbrella project collapse leaving behind bitter opposition politicians trading insults and shaking fists at each other.
