Pilane’s expulsion from UDC a ‘stillborn’
Sidney Pilane’s retaliatory social media response to recent media reports that the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) president will soon be shown the door at the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) clearly shows that the Advocate has the UDC at his mercy. Those close to the current developments say that Pilane knows the weaknesses of the constitution of the UDC, an advantage he seems to be enjoying as he clearly knows that the other three partners have no constitutional rights to expel another party from the coalition. In his response, Pilane points out that he is not a member of the UDC, since an organisation has no power to suspend or expel a person who is not its member. He continues that he participates in the UDC in his capacity as the leader of the BMD, on the instructions of the latter movement as its representative in the NEC of the UDC, and in no other capacity. “The UDC is not competent to decide who may represent the BMD in the UDC NEC, nor is it empowered to suspend or expel the BMD from the UDC. The relationship inter se of the parties which are members of the UDC as a coalition is a contractual one, and the agreed UDC constitution does not give any contracting party or parties authority to suspend or expel another contracting party. “Even if the UDC had such power, which it does not, it would be able to do so only after due process, which has not been extended. Such a process is not worth undertaking because it would be stillborn,” he fired from the hip. He continued that parties that become disenchanted with the UDC or another contracting party member of the UDC are at liberty to leave the UDC. Moreover, he continued that the unwavering position of the BMD is that any party which is a member of the UDC is free to leave the UDC at any time as “ours is a free country and the parties that remain in the UDC will carry moono forward and work to take power in 2019.” The Botswana National Front (BNF) and Botswana Peoples Party (BPP) Secretary generals Moeti Mohwasa and Venter Galetshabiwe had earlier on admitted in an interview that they have indeed met but could not divulge information concerning their indaba but a close source had revealed that the meeting was intended to push Pilane under the bus, an action which is legally impossible according to Pilane’s rebuttal statement. “Neither the BMD nor I have received any communication from anybody concerning any intended or actual suspension or expulsion. If we should, it would not be worth the paper it is written on,” he blasted.