Dear Editor
Reports that the main opposition, the Botswana National Front (BNF) is luring the Botswana People’s Party (BPP) into an electoral pact relationship in the next general elections are enough evidence that the big brother is now reeling in continuous fear and panic after it betrayed Batswana by unceremoniously walking out of the opposition unity talks.
Reality is now beginning to set in with most of them, but there is totally no route of escape for these political criminals as the angry electorate awaits them at the polls to teach them a lesson for life.
It defeats logic that it is the same BNF which just not long ago dismissed the pact model as a non starter but now wants a similar arrangement with another opposition party (BPP).
The two parties rejected the pact with the BNF sticking to an impractical alliance model and the BPP opting for a total merger. In fact, Mohammed Khan, the BNF Secretary General, is on record saying that the “pact model is useless and BNF cannot waste time with a useless arrangement”. He said the BNF was for alliance and nothing else.
It needs to be noted that the reason why the two parties walked out of the talks was that they believed the pact, which they entered into before the 2004 general elections, did not work therefore they cannot participate in another pact arrangement. They could not even accommodate an improved electoral pact which the BCP and BAM suggested. The recently signed electoral pact between the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) has indeed spurred the BNF to action. The specter of the BCP/BAM relationship causing upsets both for the BDP and the BNF is giving BNF leaders sleepless nights.
No matter how much the BNF hates to hear about it, the fact is that they walked out of the opposition unity talks, preferring collapse instead.
The verdict is already out and the electorate has already taken a position to punish the gangsters at the polls for an unpardonable gross political transgression.
The issue of all opposition parties working together remains omnipotent and whoever dices with it risks being pushed into oblivion.
This somewhat cruel reality is now staring the BNF leadership right in their faces. They are now clutching at straws.
Panic is written all over their faces and they now want a quick lousy pact with the BPP.
Ba setse ba tshwana fela le motho yo o tlhatsang a bo a batla go ithusa gape ka se a se tlhatsitseng. They really need to be helped. Ke gore jaanong ba setse ba leka go ikgabetsa ka lepeka la bofelo le le setseng la Peoples Party. One wonders what exactly the BNF hopes to achieve with its intended marriage of convenience with a tattered BPP.
The BPP is said to have also expressed much eagerness and great excitement to discuss the possibility of a pact with the BNF in the next General Elections. Indeed partners in crime. We wait to see if the negotiations between the BNF and the BPP will culminate into a pact. Or will the BPP accept to be affiliated to the BNF?
A pact agreement between the two will be a demonstration that when they initially rejected the pact of all opposition parties, the two parties were not having the interests of the nation at heart, but rather only their personal gratification. It will also be that they only want to sabotage the BAM/BCP pact arrangement which promises to give the BDP, and indeed the BNF, a run for their money by causing confusion amongst the electorates. The BNF and BPP stand accused for betraying Batswana when they sabotaged a legitimate project of opposition unity which would have sent the BDP packing.
The BNF has a tendency to incriminate the BCP for all its failures and perpetual misjudgments. Even when the BNF leaders are at fault, the BCP is to blame.
We wouldn’t be surprised if the BNF started accusing the BCP for its double mindedness on the issue of pacts. When we say the BNF support is dwindling while the opposite is the case with the BCP, which is experiencing steady growth, the BNF cries foul. The 40-year-old BNF got 20 votes in Mathangwane while the BCP got 178 votes.
In Sefhophe, the big brother came trailing with 61votes while the BCP fetched 468. The BCP reversed a margin of 438 in Gobojango to snatch the ward from the BDP. On the other hand, the BNF lost Mabutsane to the BDP, a ward they had previously won with a margin of more than 300. Yes, the BCP should be allowed to celebrate its successes, if that angers the big brother, so be it. We shall celebrate and celebrate until we celebrate, to the annoyance our detractors.
It is common knowledge that the BNF is facing a serious credibility crisis after its infamous Molepolole special congress which elected a less credible central committee (courtesy of Comrade Moore) and is battling with instinctive phobia. Its leader, Otsweletse Moupo, has failed to live up to expectation, failing to contribute to the state of the nation address. Recently he was bashed by his own constituents for neglecting them. Indeed it never rains at BNF, it pours. The BNF does not want all these to be up for public consumption. In their own narrow thinking, only their achievements should be announced.
The recent expulsion of Mogalakwe Mogalakwe is threatening to polarise party factions even further. Banished former party vice president, Kathleen Letshabo, has thrown her weight behind Mogalakwe. Mogalakwe himself continues to castigate Moupo and his committee in the media and political meetings declaring that Moupo and his administration are unconstitutional and that he himself is still BNF. There is complete chaos in the party. Indeed, the nation needs to know about this.
Batswana must reject political clowns. They must reject the BNF/BPP pact. The arrangement is self serving and is not meant to liberate Batswana. It is aimed at countering the legitimate BCP/BAM relationship which is the only remaining hope for the nation. Botswana can be a better place in the absence of the chaotic BNF. For the BPP, it will be a waste of time to talk about it as there is nothing to talk about in the first place. The parties should just be sent packing to the archives for posterity sake.
Thank you
Tabona Manje
P O Box 20
Zwenshambe
