The Botswana Congress Party and the Botswana National Front fell short of saying Leader of Opposition, Botsalo Ntuane, snubbed the opposition collective in parliament when he responded to the State of the Nation address.
Previously, the Leader of Opposition made formal consultation with other opposition leaders in parliament before responding to the State of the Nation address.
“In my discussion with the BCP President, Honourable Dumelang Saleshando, he informed me that there was no formal discussion around the speech. The fact that there was no formal discussion around the speech means it may not necessarily be representative of the views of the opposition collective. Ideally, there should have been a formal discussion,” said the BCP spokesman Taolo Lucas.
“Although I can’t say all the views expressed in the speech are representative of the opposition collective, Honourable Ntuane is an MP in his own right. He is entitled to state the views of his party,” said the BNF leader in parliament and MP for Kgatleng East, Isaac Mabiletsa.
Ntuane does not know what the fuss is all about as he has consulted other opposition parties.
“We had a caucus on 7 and 8 November where I outlined the general themes I wanted to cover,” said Ntuane.
The BCP Youth League said this week it would lobby for its mother body for the BNF to be the official opposition in parliament. The BCP has since disassociated itself from the statement of its youth league.
The party spokesman said his party will engage its youth, particularly on the sensitivity of issues regarding opposition talks.
