Secret UDC meeting sidelines BMD
Central committee members of the three Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) partners met secretly in Francistown this past weekend minus Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) to discuss the turmoil engulfing the coalition. However, the presidents of the three parties, Botswana National Front’s Duma Boko, Botswana People’s Party’s Motlatsi Molapisi and Botswana Congress Party’s Dumelang Saleshando, did not attend. A source who attended the meeting would only say the agenda was solely to come up with ways to deal with the current situation where they are always at loggerheads with BMD over issues such as constituency allocations which have deeply divided the coalition. The source said they agreed to strategise collectively with an aim of forcing BMD to accede to their demands or face isolation from the other members considering that there is no time before the 2019 general election. A similar meeting which was to be held last week Tuesday between BPP and BNF in Francistown did not materialise as Duma Boko did not turn up save for the party’s Secretary General Moeti Mohwasa who was present when the meeting was postponed to this week. When news were still making rounds concerning the postponement, the two parties then roped in BCP and held the meeting over the weekend instead. Mohwasa said such meetings are normal and there was nothing sinister about them. He said they will have similar meetings with BMD in future but refused to give details. Similarly, BPP Secretary General Venter Galetshabiwe confirmed the meeting but could not be drawn into discussing the agenda of the indaba.