Presidential Election Results

National Assembly Results

Introduction

Elections conducted in Namibia over November 27, 2009, and November 28, 2009, were generally considered free and fair by the international community. Three African observer missions declared the election transparent and, despite a slight delay in the results, deemed the process to have run smoothly. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) reports that the election was characterised by a peaceful, tolerant, yet enthusiastic, political atmosphere.

Opposition parties, however, have condemned the election process as being manipulated to favour the ruling party, the South West Africa People's Organisation (Swapo). Members of the opposition have criticised the electoral process for taking too long to process the results after the election date. Consequently, a group of eight opposition parties have put a case together to challenge the legitimacy of the results. The opposition groups argue that there were major operational discrepancies in the electoral process, specifically conducted by the Namibian Electoral Commission. They point to Swapo having a major influence on the commission and say that it has violated electoral laws set out by the constitution. Major opposition parties that have rejected the poll include the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP), The Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA) and the Congress of Democrats (COD).

Presidential Election Results

The Presidential election reflects the continued dominance of Hifikepunye Pohamba on the Namibian political landscape. Pohamba was re-elected with 75,25% of the vote, which is a slight decrease from the 76,44% he achieved in the 2004 vote, but, nevertheless, a resounding victory for the Swapo candidate. The candidate from the newly formed RDP party, Hidipo Hamutenya was second with 10,91% of the vote. Katuuire Kaura, from the DTA, achieved 2,98% of the vote. Ben Ulenga from the COD, achieved 0,72%.

The country's presidential elections were characterised by Pohamba's sheer dominance of the poll, as well as Hamutenya's emergence as a major player in Namibian politics. Being the candidate from the Swapo breakaway party, the RDP, Hamutenya made slight inroads into Pohamba's vast majority, gaining roughly 1% from the incumbent President. A majority of Hamutenya's support is derived from the previous support of the DTA candidate, Kaura, whose poll percentage dropped from 5,12% in 2004, to 2,98% in the most recent poll. The biggest loser was that of Ulenga, from the COD, whose support dropped from 7,28% in 2004, to 0,72% in the latest elections.

From this evidence, the emergence of a new political party and, subsequently, a new presidential candidate did little to detract from Pohamba and Swapo's massive support base. However, the emergence of Hamutenya has done a lot to unify opposition support, at the expense of previously prominent opposition parties such as the DTA and the COD.

National Assembly Results

Following a similar pattern to that of the presidential election results, the parliamentary vote reflects Swapo's dominance of the National Assembly with 74,29% of the vote, translating into 54 seats out of 72. The RDP was the main gainer with 11,16% of the vote and eight seats. The DTA lost two seats in the Assembly, effectively leaving it with two remaining seats in the National Assembly. The United Democratic Front lost a seat, as did the Monitor Action Group. Similar to the presidential election, the biggest loser was the COD, which lost four seats and is left with a single seat, thus seriously curtailing it's political influence in the Assembly.

Overall, Swapo has held onto its two-thirds majority in the Assembly and therefore maintained its ability to change the constitution.

Future Challenges

It is unlikely that the coalition of eight parties protesting the election results are to have any success. With the SADC and the broader international community recognising the election result, and declaring the process free and fair, the results are unlikely to be reviewed.

With Pohamba and Swapo firmly in power, government policy is unlikely to change. The incumbent regime is likely to continue with policies that aim to steer the country out of recession. The Swapo-led government is most likely to encourage regional trade to improve export earnings. They are expected to continue their prudent macroeconomic policies to encourage public spending. The government plans to provide social safety nets to combat rising unemployment and poverty exacerbated by the global financial crisis.

According to the Swapo party manifesto, the key issues of education, job creation and combating HIV/Aids have been identified as major challenges to the country. They aim to improve public infrastructure not only to upgrade the networks and systems to deal with these issues, but also to provide employment and therefore assist in the task of poverty alleviation.

Main Sources

AfricanElections - Elections in Namibia (December 6, 2009).
Election Watch - Namibia under a Swapo government (December 8, 2009).
Polity - Pre-election report: Namibia (November 30, 2009).
Polity - Namibia's ruling Swapo in landslide poll victory (December 7, 2009).
Swapo - Self-Review: Keeping the 2004 SWAPO Party Election Manifesto Promises (December 8, 2009).
TimesLive - Namibia opposition claim electoral irregularities (December 1, 2009).
VOA News - Namibia opposition mulls over election lawsuit (December 1, 2009).
Xinhuanet - Namibian election declared peaceful, transparent (December 7, 2009).