We must state that on receipt of the UDC letter our President Advocate Sidney Pilane took a decision to resign from the committee as the UDC recommendation was such that it nullified the Matshekge congress. We received his resignation letter on the 1 November 2017. We then held a National Working Committee meeting on 2 November 2017 and accepted Mk Pilane’s resignation letter. We thought his resignation was a bold and courageous move indicative of a good leader that he is. We then had to refer both UDC and Pilane’s letter to the NEC.
The NEC met on 4 November 2017 to consider the UDC letter and that of Mk Pilane. In our meeting we resolved to accept Mk Pilane’s letter of resignation and also to accede to the UDC request to hold a special congress. In order to accommodate the UDC request the NEC took a decision to dissolve itself and allow the Gantsi elected leadership to take over as an interim committee to prepare for the special congress. The interim committee will be headed by the chairman of the party as per the party constitution.
This should be understood to mean that BMD will have a fresh congress on 3 December 2017 as agreed by the outgoing committee and to be facilitated by the Gantsi elected committee. We opted for the dissolution of our committee not because we agree with the reasoning of UDC on this matter but because we want to deliver a new government to Batswana. We could have taken the legal option but we knew very well that this option may cost the nation a fortune although we are convinced that the legal route would vindicate us.
The NEC has resolved to postpone the November youth congress to accommodate the special congress of the party. We shall therefore hold both congresses on the same dates, that is, 3 and 4th December 2017.
We are happy that at last we have found common ground with our colleagues in the UDC hence we will start participating in all UDC activities as from today onwards. We have nominated the following: Dr Tlamelo Mmatli, MK Gilbert Mangole, MK Nehemiah Modubule and Mk Percy Bakwena to represent the BMD in the UDC Executive Committee.
Rasina W. Rasina
BMD National Spokesperson
Editor’s Note: Please note that the length of this statement has been reduced owing to space limitation.
Bmd To Hold Special Congress In Three Weeks
