PREVIEW
The electoral commission’s extension of voting in the general election after technical problems and ballot paper shortages prompts complaints
Namibia is set to elect its first female head of state but also looks likely to join Mozambique in having the legitimacy of its general elections dismissed as a sham by the opposition.
Results from over 65% of votes counted on 3 December, the electoral commission’s portal give Vice-President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah – also known as NNN - of the SWAPO Party around 55% of the vote, above, though not decisively, the 50% threshold needed to avoid a second round.
Yet Panduleni Itula’s Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), currently holding 28% of the vote, has already dismissed the results. SWAPO is also leading the parliamentary elections race, with a 56% to 19% lead over the IPC, suggesting that it will maintain a tight grip on both branches of government.
Polling day was supposed to be 27 November but technical problems, including a shortage of ballot papers, led to voting being extended by two days in some areas, an extension which the IPC says was illegal.
‘The rule of law has been grossly violated and we cannot call these elections by any means or measure as free, fair and legitimate,’ said Itula on 30 November, the final day of voting. Other opposition parties have joined the IPC in rejecting the validity of the elections.
A former SWAPO member who ran against former President Hage Geingob in 2019, Itula had anticipated a much closer race with NNN than the 29% he garnered five years ago (AC Vol 65 No 24, SWAPO aims to avoid a Botswana-style upset).
The IPC had hoped to cash in on disillusionment caused by the high unemployment among 18-34-year-olds and to repeat the triumph of the Umbrella for Democratic Change in neighbouring Botswana last month (AC Vol 65 No 23, Boko wins big).
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