Erasmus Shalihaxwe
Political analyst Erica Thomas has called for a review of Namibia’s Electoral Act to address the role of political parties with fewer than three parliamentary seats.
According to Thomas, such parties are an unnecessary burden on taxpayers.
Speaking on Thursday about the performance of smaller parties in the recent presidential and national assembly elections, Thomas expressed concern over their contribution to the legislature.
“I think the Electoral Act needs to be reviewed to see how some of these parties can be accommodated because their leaders only fight to be in parliament for their stomachs and contribute nothing,” said Thomas.
She also criticised such parties for their lack of engagement in national debates.
“They cannot blame the Electoral Commission of Namibia for losing seats in parliament while most of them have internal fights; they deserve to be there (in parliament). They are a waste of taxpayers money. I don’t remember them contributing anything in parliament, not even during simple national issues discussions,” she said.
Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) president Mike Kavekotora has attributed his party’s loss of its single parliamentary seat to what he described as electoral manipulation by the ECN, Swapo, and Zimbabwe.
Kavekotora criticised the elections, describing them as the worst he has witnessed since entering politics in 2009.
“It is true that we had one EVM seat in parliament and lost it through the allocation by Swapo, ECN and Zimbabwe. The recently concluded event in our books can never be termed an election. It was the worst event that I experienced since I joined active politics in 2009,” he said.
He further alleged that electoral irregularities have persisted since 2009.
“In 2009, we at the RDP found material evidence that could have nullified the election had it not for some of the judges being captured and compromised. The events of the 27 to the 30th of November were really an insult to Namibians’ intelligence and a complete disregard to the democratic system we all cherish,” said Kavekotora.
Kavekotora called on the public to demand credible elections from Swapo and the ECN.
“RDP, together with other proposition parties, is demanding fresh elections to reflect the will of our people. This must be conducted by an independent body working in the interest of Namibians and not the Swapo stooges currently occupying the ECN,” he said.
He added the internal fights between him and Kandy Nehova did not contribute to the party losing its one seat, but the blame was on those who organised elections.
“Don’t try to attribute the non-allocation of a seat to RDP by those who rig the elections to Kandy. Kandy is not a factor and has never been. The truth lies in the unwritten rules by Swapo to eliminate all political parties established by former Swapo members,” he said.
Kavekotora also accused Swapo of targeting opposition parties founded by former Swapo members.
“This is what an investigative journalist must spend time on. Swapo lost its popularity long ago and will never win in a free, fair and credible election run by a competent and independent body. They will only survive on adopting dubious methodologies as perfected by some corrupt SADC countries,” he said.
Namibia Economic Freedom Fighter (NEFF) had two seats from the 2019 elections but only managed to get one from the recent elections.
Its spokesperson, Teresia Hamurenge, said they strongly believe they won more seats than the one they have now if the election results are revisited.
“Our current position is that we have not accepted the results. We strongly believe that if the election results are reviewed, we will get more seats than the current one that ECN has given us. We know where our stronghold is, and the current outcome does not reflect that,” alluded Hamurenge.