THE Democratic Party of Namibia (DPN) has suspended two of its members who sided with their Swapo Party rivals during the election of office bearers in the Karasburg Local Authority last year.
The two members who are suspended for three years are Willem Anderson and Irene Laberloth.Anderson was a member of the DPN executive committee, while Laberloth was an ordinary member. The two were suspended for breaking the party’s rules when they backed Swapo councillors to be elected to key positions on the council. DPN secretary general Adam Isaak told Nampa that the decision was made during the party’s executive committee meeting held on January 11.’We felt that they have violated the party’s rules, their own rules that they made, and that is why we decided to expel them for three years and see if they will show remorse,’ said Isaak.The two were suspended on condition that they should not interfere with any of the party’s decisions during the three years, failing which they would be expelled permanently.’I would like to say that the party has lost trust in these members, because as DPN, we are supposed to work together and not sabotage our decisions. So, they need to build that trust back should they want to be with us again after three years,’ he said.Isaak also expressed dissatisfaction about some statements by Anderson and Laberloth about the DPN quoted in The Namibian’s edition of December 7 2010.Laberloth said: ‘We sided with Swapo for continuation of council affairs. We do not have any hard feelings with Swapo Party members. For us it’s not about the Swapo Party, if they [DPN national leaders] do have a problem with Swapo, it’s their problem, not ours’.A third DPN executive committee member, Caroline Arendse, was suspended for the same reason, but later reinstated as the party’s representative in the Karasburg Town Council.Isaak told Nampa earlier that Arendse was reinstated because she had shown remorse and apologised to the party for siding with the Swapo Party instead of the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) in the internal council elections. – Nampa
