ECN blackballs NSHR

THE Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) could face a bitter legal wrangle after it withdrew the election observer status of the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR).

Well-placed sources said the ECN took the step after accusing the human rights organisation of spreading ‘lies’ about the voters’ roll as well as trying to discredit the elections body internationally.The NSHR’s Executive Director, Phil ya Nangoloh, confirmed receipt of the communication from ECN but vowed not to take it lying down.’One of the options we have is to challenge the decision in court. The law says that there must be a hearing to give the other party a chance before such a cancellation. We have not had an opportunity to be heard,’ he said.The ECN move came after the NSHR issued a press statement last week claiming they have a claimed to be a ‘dossier of gross irregularities’.The organisation said the voters’ roll was severely flawed and contained about 132 underage voters, that about 103 voters had registered twice, and that 12 voters had registered after the cut-off date of September 30. The ECN hit back with a counter-statement on Sunday claiming that the NSHR was out to ‘mislead the public’ and to convince international observers that Namibia’s electoral process was subject to rigging.Ya Nangoloh said yesterday that the ECN accused them of deliberate attempts to mislead public opinion as well as the international community.’They said we are on a campaign to project them as not credible and fair. We will have a media briefing (today) to respond,’ he said.The news about the NSHR observer status withdrawal broke a few hours after ECN chairperson Victor Tonchi told international observers that they must watch out for ‘detractors who for political expediency and opportunism want to distract the electoral process’.He said the ECN recognised the active and critical role of civil society ‘but in the case of Namibia there are some civic organisations that have become whistle-blowers and staunch critics of the system instead of becoming partners’.’Unnecessary whistle-blowing sometimes leads to voter apathy, increased political tension and contested results which leads to wastage of limited financial resources on recounting and court cases,’ he said.In the Sunday statement, the ECN claimed there was collusion between NSHR and one of the parties contesting the elections, which raised serious questions about the organisation’s impartiality as an observer of elections. ‘Given this situation, it is clear that this institution cannot be trusted as a credible, fair, transparent, honest, objective and non-partisan observer of elections in Namibia,’ ECN said. christof@namibian.com.na