Political Perspective
By: GWEN LISTERELECTIONS are at hand, but one would never say so.
There hardly seems to be urgency on the part of any of the
political parties to get their programmes and promises to the
electorate.
Opposition parties are largely in disarray and there is no
visible campaigning on their part, and Swapo, aiming if possible
for a clean sweep, have problems enough of their own.
Swapo's Presidential candidate, Hifikepunye Pohamba, trying
almost desperately at times to prove he's his own man rather than
simply an appendage of incumbent President Sam Nujoma, is out there
talking to people, but he's primarily trying to put this kind of
rumour to rest.
Shortage of finance is reportedly one of the major problems
dogging opposition parties as they fail to go on the campaign
trail; and let's not even ask what happened to the millions paid to
these and the ruling party by the taxpayer for precisely this sort
of thing.
Their internal organisational problems are probably also to
blame.
Swapo is virtually guaranteed to retain its two-thirds majority
(that is, if they don't increase it even further) and one would
think that this might spur on opposition parties to get going as
early as possible in a bid to get votes and identify issues on
which to campaign.
Swapo might have largely kept things together since
independence, but we cannot keep on lauding general stability as an
achievement in itself, and there are also unresolved problem areas
which they have to answer for.
Of course there is complacency, especially in ruling party
ranks.
There's essentially nothing that can happen in the next few
weeks to bring about a critical and issue-oriented electorate to
keep them on their toes.
So unfortunately, it doesn't matter what Pohamba says or doesn't
say (and even if he tells people to 'lick the walls' as he has
done) he'll still get the top job.
And mostly the same applies to the other political hopefuls from
ruling party ranks.
There are signs of sluggish communities waking up on some
issues, but they're so few and far between that they're unlikely to
significantly impact on election results.
But it is nevertheless hard to figure out why there is so little
movement on the eve of elections.
The Elections Directorate itself isn't contributing to an
exciting buildup to elections, but it is certainly fuelling talk
about the partiality of the selection process for officials to
manage supplementary registration.
The Directorate has called on unemployed youths to apply (and
they apparently did in their thousands) but I'm wondering whether
any kind of qualification was required.
Surely a reasonable level of literacy (and more than just a
membership card as some allege is the case!) is needed for this
important, albeit temporary, work? The fairness and transparency of
the whole election process would be jeopardised if there are
already irregularities at registration stage.
Many Namibians would like to think their democracy is a
meaningful one.
Unless they wake from their lethargy and call politicians to
account, they have only themselves to blame for the kind of
officials they elect.
Opposition parties are largely in disarray and there is no visible
campaigning on their part, and Swapo, aiming if possible for a
clean sweep, have problems enough of their own.Swapo's Presidential
candidate, Hifikepunye Pohamba, trying almost desperately at times
to prove he's his own man rather than simply an appendage of
incumbent President Sam Nujoma, is out there talking to people, but
he's primarily trying to put this kind of rumour to rest.Shortage
of finance is reportedly one of the major problems dogging
opposition parties as they fail to go on the campaign trail; and
let's not even ask what happened to the millions paid to these and
the ruling party by the taxpayer for precisely this sort of
thing.Their internal organisational problems are probably also to
blame.Swapo is virtually guaranteed to retain its two-thirds
majority (that is, if they don't increase it even further) and one
would think that this might spur on opposition parties to get going
as early as possible in a bid to get votes and identify issues on
which to campaign.Swapo might have largely kept things together
since independence, but we cannot keep on lauding general stability
as an achievement in itself, and there are also unresolved problem
areas which they have to answer for.Of course there is complacency,
especially in ruling party ranks.There's essentially nothing that
can happen in the next few weeks to bring about a critical and
issue-oriented electorate to keep them on their toes.So
unfortunately, it doesn't matter what Pohamba says or doesn't say
(and even if he tells people to 'lick the walls' as he has done)
he'll still get the top job.And mostly the same applies to the
other political hopefuls from ruling party ranks.There are signs of
sluggish communities waking up on some issues, but they're so few
and far between that they're unlikely to significantly impact on
election results.But it is nevertheless hard to figure out why
there is so little movement on the eve of elections.The Elections
Directorate itself isn't contributing to an exciting buildup to
elections, but it is certainly fuelling talk about the partiality
of the selection process for officials to manage supplementary
registration.The Directorate has called on unemployed youths to
apply (and they apparently did in their thousands) but I'm
wondering whether any kind of qualification was required.Surely a
reasonable level of literacy (and more than just a membership card
as some allege is the case!) is needed for this important, albeit
temporary, work? The fairness and transparency of the whole
election process would be jeopardised if there are already
irregularities at registration stage.Many Namibians would like to
think their democracy is a meaningful one.Unless they wake from
their lethargy and call politicians to account, they have only
themselves to blame for the kind of officials they elect.