Curtain falls on Saleshando

It was as if Dumelang Saleshando, Member of Parliament for Gaborone Central and also president of the Botswana Congress Party had a premonition.On this Wednesday and in anticipation that he was going to be stripped his powers as Leader of Opposition (LOO), the maverick MP called a meeting with his staff to bid them farewell.

He would later leave in a contemplative mood to attend the most humiliating parliamentary session of his political career in the afternoon. His eyes firmly glued on the Speaker of the National Assembly Dr Margaret Nasha, he endured the entire 20 minutes of a ruling that seemed to last forever.

Nasha’s declaration was poignant, as it was devastating. The latest opposition party entrant- Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC)- had implored her to declare the position of Leader of Opposition hitherto held by BCP, vacant. By the same token she would recognise UDC-an amalgam of Botswana National Front, Botswana Peoples Party and Botswana Movement for Democracy-as a fully-fledged party with equal number (7) of Members of Parliament as BCP, which fact would necessitate a tie, and consequently imply that the seat of the LOO falls vacant. Nasha did not disappoint.

She ruled that there was a hung opposition, that none of the opposition parties satisfied the requirement of Standing Orders 7.2 and 9.1. As a result, “this House has no official opposition party.” Consequently she ruled that the BCP would effectively “cease to be the official opposition party,” and that Saleshando ceases to be the leader of opposition, “which position I accordingly hereby declare vacant.” 

The UDC heaved a collective sigh of relief. Ever grateful in defeat, Saleshando stood up at the end of the ruling on a point of elucidation and declared: “This has been a topical issue in the media. I want to state on record that we accept your ruling and we are not going to challenge it in anyway. We at BCP have always made it clear that it has never been our priority to go for this position.

Our priority has always been to represent electorates and challenge the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP).” During tea break Saleshando approached the Speaker in her office to enquire whether he should call his private car to pick him up at the end of the session, or if he would still be chauffeured home in his former official vehicle.