You are Nothing without BCP – BCPYL tells Tshere

BCP Youth League angry with Tshere for criticising party decision to run in Bophirima Ward

SESUPO RANTSIMAKO

The Botswana Congress Party Youth League (BCPYL) has warned the MP for Mahalapye West, David Tshere, that will not return to Parliament after the 2024 elections without the BCP.

In a strong worded letter that followed the MP’s absence from the party caucus last week, BCPYL says the decision to field a candidate in Bophirima Ward was voted for by a majority of the party caucus but Tshere ran to the media to besmirch the BCP and its leader over it.

“The Central Committee duly voted democratically for the BCP to field a candidate in Bophirima (Ward),” says the letter. “Tshere was part of that meeting, and he was given the opportunity to argue his position which was defeated by the majority. He asked to be excused as he believed the meeting was wasting his precious time and the party President, Dumelang Saleshando, granted him permission to leave.”

“However, like a Trojan horse planted to disrupt and destroy, he ran to the press and projected himself as a victim whilst daring the party to discipline him. He went on a rampage to discredit the party position and its leader to the glee of our competitors. As a leader in the party and nationally, there are certain standards we hold him to, as well as principles we expect him to uphold.”

The BCPYL cautioned Tshere that without the party, his dream of returning to the 13th Parliament will end prematurely. “As much as he erroneously believes that the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) won him Mahalapye West, he must be reminded that without the BCP his dream of returning to the 13th Parliament will end prematurely,” the BCP Youth League says in the in the letter.

It accuses Tshere of prioritising the coalition UDC over the BCP as the party that gave him the opportunity to run in the last general elections. “Tshere seems to be dazed by his newfound power and riches as an MP that he has forgotten the party that gave him the opportunity,” says the BCP Youth League.

While it is not clear exactly what happened before he left, Tshere has since confirmed being asked to leave the caucus meeting by the president of the BCP, Dumelang Saleshando. “What I can confirm is that I was asked to leave the meeting by the Leader of Opposition, and I left,” the MP wrote in his official Facebook page.

“I have no idea about any disciplinary hearing or action, but if it is coming I will be waiting. I do not want to engage the media on this issue because I said in my view it is purely an internal issue. I do not want to sound like I am fighting the party.”