WINDHOEK, Dec 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Namibian president Hage Geingob on Saturday won the country’s presidential elections with a diminished majority of 56.3 percent, the worst performance of any ruling party candidate for nearly 30 years.
Geingob was declared president of this week’s vote, retaining his position
and the ruling South West Africa People’s Organisation’s (SWAPO) long
dominance of power, despite a recession and a corruption scandal that has
fuelled popular discontent.
SWAPO presidents have traditionally won by over 70 percent in presidential elections since the country’s independence in 1990.
Geingob, 78, and his liberation party movement SWAPO both lost support
compared to the previous national elections in the vast desert nation in
southwest Africa, where he claimed a sweeping 87 percent in the 2014
election.
Accepting the results, Geingob said there was always one winner in
elections but that “democracy was the biggest winner.”
“It was peaceful and tough,” he said.
His strongest challenger, independent candidate Panduleni Itula, won 30
percent of the vote, while the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) candidate McHenry Venaani bagged 5.3 percent.
Itula, the country’s first presidential independent candidate, won in key
economic urban areas such the capital Windhoek, Walvis Bay and Swakopmund at the coast.
Out of 11 presidential candidates, only two, including Geingob was present
at the election announcement event, a clear sign of protest from opposition
who have alleged electoral fraud.
The electoral commission announced SWAPO won 65 percent of the national assembly seats, down from 80 percent- losing its two-third majority in parliament.
The PDM, formerly the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA), increased its
national assembly party representation from 4.8 percent to 16.55 percent,
securing 16 seats, according to the electoral commission.
While the Landless People’s Movement(LPM), a new political party that is
tapping into people’s frustrations over a lack of access to land, came third
with 4.9 percent which earned them four seats.
Around 1.3 million people out of Namibia’s 2.45 million inhabitants were
registered to vote. Half are younger than 37 and many were born after
independence.
Statistics from the electoral commission show that more than 800,000 people voted in the presidential elections, a 60 percent voter turn-out.
The election was “generally peaceful, well organised and conducted in a
professional manner,” the Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional bloc said.
Commonwealth observers echoed that assessment and said the polls were
“carried out in a largely peaceful and orderly manner”. — NNN-AGENCIES
