IPC leader’s election case must not give NNN sleepless nights, analysts say

The court application filed by Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) leader Panduleni Itula to challenge Namibia’s presidential election result should not give president-elect Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah any sleepless nights until the Supreme Court has decided the matter, analysts have said.

In two electoral cases that are to be heard early next year, the IPC and Itula are asking for Namibia’s recently conducted national elections to be declared invalid and set aside.

However, political analyst and international relations expert ambassador Pius Dunaiski says there is no reason for Nandi-Ndaitwah to be worried, as her inauguration will not be immediately affected.

“The law is very straight that the only institution that has a legal right to declare a president is the ECN [Electoral Commission of Namibia]. Unless that decision has been overturned by a competent court I don’t think she must have sleepless nights,” he says.

Dunaiski adds that the matter may also risk getting postponed on 15 January, when it is set down for a hearing.

“I think they will only come together for postponement. All the documentation including the heads of argument will have to be exchanged to the satisfaction of all the parties,” he says.

Political analyst and columnist Kae Matundu has also said the court challenge will likely drag on and not affect Nandi-Ndaitwah’s inauguration as Namibia’s fifth president.

“The court process is a long process. It’s not a straightforward thing because whoever has put in a case must prove to the court as to whatever happened and to what extent they were disadvantaged by whatever irregularities they are claiming. So the process will just go ahead until the court pronounces itself,” he says.

Itula is asking the Supreme Court to set aside the result of the presidential election, which was won by Nandi-Ndaitwah with 58% of votes counted, and to order that a new presidential election be held.

The IPC also wants the Electoral Court to set aside the result of the National Assembly election, in which Swapo won 51 of the 96 elected seats in the assembly and the IPC won 20 seats.