Ryder Gabathuse
13 November 2009
analysis
Francistown — After its dismal showing in the general election,the BNF leadership is meeting for a critical self-analysis this weekend and has proposed November 21 as an tentative date for a wider introspective forum with the general membership, reports RYDER GABATHUSE
After failing to meet its target of winning 29 constituencies in the October 16 general elections, it is back to the drawing board for the main opposition, the Botswana National Front (BNF).
Although the BNF went into the general elections torn and worn by instability, the party still set itself the ambitious target so that it could possibly form the government. But as fate would have it, the party that once threw the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) into a panic when it won 13 constituencies in 1994 has seen its fortunes dwindle over time.
To win a measly six seats in the October 16 elections - exactly half of its tally in the 2004 general elections - speaks volumes about the state of affairs in the once mighty BNF. On October 16, the BNF won Kgalagadi North, Kgalagadi South, Ngwaketse West, Kanye South, South East North and Kgatleng East. The constituencies it lost to the ruling BDP from the 2004 elections include Kanye North, Gaborone South, Gaborone West North, Gaborone West South, Letlhakeng East, Letlhakeng West and Lobatse.
A peep into the history of the BNF shows that the party won three MPs in 1965, two in 1974, two in 1979, four in 1984, three in 1989, six in 1999, 12 in 2004, and the present six. What went wrong?
The BNF went into the October 16 elections burdened with many challenges that required considerable time and application to be overcome. The party had to grapple with widespread indiscipline that saw the leadership 'crack the whip' on errant members at a time when other parties were focused on the campaign trail.
Some of the party's candidates were withdrawn at the 11th hour, throwing both itself and support base into disarray. Some members took their leadership to court while others took to newspaper columns to settle scores before the 'intellectual' encounters became ugly - almost physical - scrimmages at freedom squares. Little wonder that, at the post-election press conference in Gaborone, party leader Otsweletse Moupo found himself parrying calls for him to resign on the basis of the party's dismal electoral performance.
As it emerged from speaking with the BNF Publicity and Information Secretary this week, the party leadership has requested each constituency to write a report on its performance in the last elections. Moeti Mohwasa believes the reports will give the party a clearer picture of where it went wrong.
"The same applies to the central committee, which is regarded as a constituency," Mohwasa said. Infact, November 21 is the tentative date for an introspective BNF leadership forum at which a rescue plan will dominate deliberations.
In the meantime, the BNF has scheduled a central committee retreat in Gaborone this weekend mainly to conduct a critical self-analyses and post-mortem of the general elections. "The weekend meeting will offer us an opportunity as the party leadership to look into the future," said Mohwasa, who admitted that they have had a chronic problem of self-destructing squabbles. He traces the present state of affairs to the Molepolole (special) Congress of 2007 at which much of the current leadership was elected. "Some people did not accept the results of the elections as they felt that the congress was illegal," he said.
Mohwasa also cited people disregarding disciplinary processes and court battles among the troubles that cost the BNF its former seats and prevented its growth. "A factor that people continue overlooking is that the leadership is mandated to run the affairs of the party," he said. "People attacked the BNF in the media and at political rallies and expected the party leadership to remain silent, which was a deadly mistake." He was firm that there should be adherence to the party's code of discipline. "Our approach was never meant to be punitive but to ensure that there was order in the party as provided for in the party constitution," he said as he denied that the leadership was intent on destroying the Temporary Platform as a band of 'renegades'. (Estranged BNF activists, some of whom fell out with the party leadership after they were expelled for various reasons, formed the Temporary Platform.)
Will the BNF central committee retreat come with a recommendation to pardon those who are willing to make peace with the party? The question should not sound far-fetched, but the BNF spokesman insisted: "None of those who were expelled have ever approached the party leadership seeking to make peace."
While the axiom says there are no permanent enemies in politics, it seems BNF comrades have yet to appreciate this almost universal truism. Or the present leadership is still in a vengeful - even vindictive - mood? "Not so," said Mohwasa. "We did not want to leave a legacy of chaos in the party. We can't afford to do that." All in all, Mohwasa was optimistic that the BNF would recover but he insisted that it would take both the combined efforts of both the leadership and the general membership to get to the Promised Land.
Meanwhile, the Publicity Secretary of the BNF Youth League, Arafat Khan, says the BNFYL will also meet in a fortnight to discuss the elections. "There are people who blame the party leader for the party's poor showing in the elections, saying
He expelled people from the party," Khan says. "But it was not Moupo who expelled people; the disciplinary committee did." Infact, according to him, "we should all be prepared to take the blame".
Significantly, Khan wants the BNF leadership to accept back Nehemiah Modubule, who was expelled from the party prior to the elections, only to successfully run as an independent parliamentary candidate in Lobatse. Modubule has himself expressed a desire to return to the BNF fold.
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