Says the rumours were orchestrated by rivals to cause confusion
SESUPO RANTSIMAKO
An MP of the opposition Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF), Leepetswe Lesedi, has blamed his rivals in Serowe South for recent rumours linking him to the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), The Botswana Gazette has established.
Speculation was rife last week that the MP would be received at a BDP rally scheduled for Shoshong last Saturday. However, the rally was abandoned at the last minute due to bad weather.
This week the BPF denied reports linking the Serowe South legislator to the BDP, saying the rumours were orchestrated by his opponents with an eye on the constituency.
Rivals
“I have no intentions of crossing the floor to the BDP and have not been approached by anyone from the party,” Lesedi said in an interview.
“I suspect that my political rivals who have an interest in the constituency are the ones spreading these lies in order to discredit me and bring panic to my party.”
When The Gazette put it to him that some opposition MPs in the past defected to the BDP having vehemently denied rumours that they would do so before, Lesedi responded: “I am not like those politicians.”
“I am a principled representative who will not dump the people who voted for me. Besides, there is a floor crossing law that stops us from doing that. So crossing to BDP means that I would cease to be an MP because I would create a vacancy.”
He added that eight politicians from both the BDP and the BPF intend to run as candidates in Serowe South in the next general elections in 2024. “These are the people whom I suspect orchestrated these rumours,” he said.
Denial before defecting
Other MPs who initially denied rumours linking them to the BDP but ended up crossing the floor to the ruling party include Pono Moatlhodi of Tonota and Aubrey Lesaso of Shoshong. The MPs crossed the floor before the floor crossing law was enacted.
Reached for comment, BDP spokesperson Kagelelo Kentse rubbished the reports that link Lesedi to his party.
“It cannot be true because the development would mean that there has to be a bye-election and that comes with a lot of expenses,” Kentse said. “Further, I have not heard from our party regarding anything like that.”