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Court puts IPC’s National Assembly election challenge on hold

The Electoral Court has ordered that the Independent Patriots for Change’s legal challenge of Namibia’s 2024 National Assembly election should not proceed until the Supreme Court has decided a similar case about the 2024 presidential election.

The court made the order at the end of a ruling read by judge Hannelie Prinsloo in the Windhoek High Court on Monday.

Prinsloo and judges Orben Sibeya and Esi Schimming-Chase noted that the election challenges which the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) filed in the Electoral Court and the Supreme Court are both based on the same legal issue.

That issue is whether the proclamation in which president Nangolo Mbumba extended voting in the elections, which were initially set to take place on 27 November only, to 29 and 30 November as well, was lawful.

It is undesirable for the Electoral Court to consider the same issue of the legality of Mbumba’s proclamation when the Supreme Court will hear the IPC’s presidential election challenge on the same issue on 10 February, Prinsloo said.

She added that the Supreme Court’s decision on the legality of the proclamation would provide guidance to the Electoral Court and limit issues that would need to be decided in the IPC’s National Assembly election challenge.

It would be cost-effective to await the outcome of the case pending in the Supreme Court, and a decision by that court would also facilitate a quick resolution of the case in the Electoral Court, Prinsloo said.

The judges postponed the IPC’s National Assembly poll challenge to 20 February for a status hearing, and for the Landless People’s Movement’s application to join the case as a second applicant to be heard.

The court also ordered that the IPC should pay N$450 000 in security for the legal costs of the Electoral Commission of Namibia, the president and Swapo by 11 February. The court decided the amount to be paid as security for costs on 15 January.

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