The Bophirima Ward (Gaborone, Bonnington South) by-election is set to be a three horse race following the decision by the Alliance for Progressives (AP) not to contest.
The AP leadership have taken a resolution to back the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) against the latter’s coalition partner Botswana National Front (BNF). The Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC)’s contracting partners the BCP and the BNF fell off following disagreements over the by-election candidacy.
“Taking into cognizance our principles and deeply held values, inter alia integrity, fairness and democratic process, we yielded in favor of the BCP despite the fact of the strength of our potential candidate,” announced AP Secretary General Phenyo Butale at the weekend.
“We knew and understood that once we had withdrawn, the final decision was a matter of internal process of the UDC, of which we are not a part and cannot impose our wish. Unfortunately, such a process, if there was any, failed to reach agreement on a single candidate, resulting in two candidates. This is not ideal, and is regrettable. However, we should all remember and appreciate that democracy is rarely perfect, and in those instances where its imperfection rears its head, we still shoulder the responsibility to participate in the democratic process for the betterment of our country.”
Butale said therefore the party took the decision to yield in favor of the BCP. He said the party were confident that those among its activists who will work in support of the BCP candidate Peter Mogapi’s candidacy do so with a genuine belief that it is part of a broader journey to bring about credible leadership towards what he called a new Botswana in 2024.
The party had initially withdrawn from the by-election to yield in favor of a UDC candidate but withdrew their support following disagreements between the coalition partners. The statement stopped short of calling the decision a quid pro quo.
“Upon further reflection and engagement with other opposition parties, the AP Leadership decided to yield for the Botswana Congress Party who as we all know, compromised in Metsimotlhabe, Lentsweletau and Tamasane, in the last round of bye-elections. As the AP, we believe, it is only when all parties are willing to sacrifice and compromise that, a united and vibrant opposition block can materialize.”
The BCP and the BNF had a public disagreement following an announcement by latter’s Secretary General, also UDC Head of Communications Moeti Mohwasa.
The communique introduced the public to Mankie Sekete as the coalition candidate for Bophirima Ward by-election. Sekete, a former Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) member had represented the coalition in the 2019 General Election. She is now a member of the BNF.
In response to the announcement the BCP said they were never part of the decision making process and rejected the candidate. They accused the UDC leadership of undemocratic tendencies.
In their statement the BCP said the coalition had never held a meeting since July 2019, questioning where the BNF got the mandate to name a candidate for the by-election.
But the BNF refuted the claims, saying there was a meeting on January 29, 2022 where there was affirmation of a standing resolution that “what obtained in 2019 stands for purposes of by-elections” and that parties and candidates who represented the coalition then would stand if there are by-elections and a seat is allocated to the coalition.
“Deciding to field a candidate to run under the BCP ticket is tantamount to leaving the UDC. It is an effective withdrawal from the UDC. It may attract disciplinary action from UDC. BCP may be actually pushing to be expelled from UDC so that it is not blamed for outright withdrawal from the coalition like in 2014,” the BNF has said.
“All BCP MPs are in parliament through the UDC and are UDC MPs. Does the BCP expect its MPs to campaign for BCP against the UDC in Bophirima Ward? Will this be a lawful instruction given that they’re UDC MPs? What will happen to MPs who don’t participate for fear of disciplinary action by UDC? Can we expect BCP Leader of Opposition to represent the UDC in Parliament whilst he’s campaigning against it in Bophirima?” The Bophirima Ward council seat fell vacant following the death of Botswana Democratic Party councilor.
