BMD Heeding To UDC Recommendations Is A Step In The Right Direction

Monitor Editor | Monday November 6, 2017 10:09

The remaining BMD leadership seems to have accepted the suggestion, even though some still hold that they do not agree with the decision taken by the UDC. The BMD leadership should nonetheless be applauded for looking at the bigger picture, and agreeing to work towards saving their troubled party.

UDC was formed so that opposition parties could tackle the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) as a united front, hence the need for the UDC to exercise fairness when dealing with its members. Infighting within the BMD started way before the Bobonong congresses. While reasons have been provided why the UDC could not intervene in the early stages, that intervention was necessary, as it could have perhaps neutralised the in-fights before they spiraled out of control. UDC initially suggested power sharing between the two camps, which were at ‘each other’s throats’ with each camp claiming legitimacy.

The suggestion to hold a fresh congress should have perhaps been made instead of the power-sharing one, which seemed to have angered the Ndaba Gaolathe camp. The Gaolathe camp ended up forming Alliance for Progressives (AP), a move, which may have been avoided had the decision come sooner. The Gaolathe camp had always advocated for a fresh congress, after they were denied entry into the Matshekge congress, and ended up holding their own congress, which suggests that had this decision been made early on, maybe the AP might not have been born.

Gaolathe camp seemed to have prepared themselves for both scenarios, as the AP was announced shortly after the UDC announced its suggestion of power sharing between the warring camps. Perhaps the UDC was being strategic, in its suggestions, but the best suggestion seems to have come a little too late.

The suggestion perhaps will bring peace within opposition parties, as the ones who felt the initial decision was not fair to them might now consider joining the coalition. The UDC cannot afford to lose any of the opposition parties, as they stand a better chance to accomplish their mission as an united front.