Cracks emerge ahead of Botswana opposition unity talks

The largest opposition alliance in Botswana is expected to begin fresh unity talks this week without one of the key players, the Botswana Congress Party (BPC), which has said it will not go ahead without consulting its members, suggesting a bumpy ride ahead.

The Botswana Umbrella Party was formed by the country’s four leading opposition parties- BCP, Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD), Botswana National Front (BNF) and Botswana People’s Party (BPP).

They adopted the umbrella as the symbol of the united front they intend to use in the 2014 general election to unseat the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) which has been in power for over four decades.

The talks collapsed on Christmas eve last year after they failed to decide how the various constituencies would be shared among the affiliate parties.

While BNF, BMD and BPP are set on completing the talks by March, BCP has adopted a non-committal attitude saying their consultations would only end on March 11.

BCP president Dumelang Saleshando said the March deadline was set without their participation and they would go on and consult their membership.

Leadership
“That deadline was not set with our participation,” Mr Saleshando told the Africa Review. "Our central committee met on the second week of January and resolved that we should go up and consult.”

Mr Saleshando said they would not be content with an agreement reached without the input of their members.

"Other parties have decided not to consult their membership and we would not be comfortable with an agreement reached without the involvement of our members because the resolution to engage as political parties was adopted in July 2010 and it came with a clear condition that negotiations would be completed by December 2011.”

He is convinced that it is critical to establish their mandate as a party after missing the December deadline. "We can’t go into new talks without ascertaining our mandate. That is why we are talking to the regions,” he said.

When the talks started, the three parties were to agree on a name to be used during campaigns, especially in the 2014 general election. The formation was also to decide on its leadership.
Meanwhile, BNF’s Moeti Mohwasa, who has been tasked to head the alliance’s communications unit, said they will brief the media on their plans on Wednesday.