ECN won’t postpone by-election

THE Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) has refused to postpone this week’s by-election in the Tobias Hainyeko constituency of the Khomas Region, despite serious shortcomings and irregularities claimed by eight political parties.

The by-election became necessary after Swapo expelled its Regional Councillor Erasmus ‘Kaptein’ Hendjala about three months ago, accusing him of links with the new Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) party. Hendjala joined the RDP 10 days later and became their candidate for the by-election, which is scheduled for Friday.According to the Electoral Act, a by-election must be held within 90 days should a vacancy arise.”The Commission carefully studied the claims made by the parties concerning the ECN’s preparations and readiness for the by-election,” said ECN chairman Victor Tonchi at a hastily convened press conference on Friday afternoon.”The ECN has fulfilled the statutory requirements … for the by-election and has taken proper care of the logistical arrangements in order to ensure all operational aspects are implemented effectively.The ECN is thus of the view that the claims made by the political parties do not warrant or justify a postponement,” Tonchi stated.About two weeks ago, eight parties – APP, CoD, DTA, RP, RDP, Nudo, Swanu, and UDF – sent a letter to the ECN stating that they could not inspect the voters’ roll as they were not notified.They criticised the ECN for only telling participating parties on Friday, August 29, that supplementary voter registration would start on Monday, September 1, which left them no time to inform voters.The eight parties further complained that the ECN had failed to inform them adequately about the preparations for the by-election.”This whole matter is a joke and the ECN is not serious about our concerns,” a furious representative of the Republican Party, Nico Smit, told The Namibian on Friday.Arnold Tjihuiko of Nudo was also very unhappy.”The ECN did not work properly according to the preparatory schedule and it is unheard of that the parties could not inspect the voters’ roll,” Tjihuiko told The Namibian.The political parties were only informed of the ECN’s decision – by hand delivered-letters – after the press conference.The eight parties will decide today what their next steps will be with regard to their participation in the by-election.Hendjala joined the RDP 10 days later and became their candidate for the by-election, which is scheduled for Friday.According to the Electoral Act, a by-election must be held within 90 days should a vacancy arise.”The Commission carefully studied the claims made by the parties concerning the ECN’s preparations and readiness for the by-election,” said ECN chairman Victor Tonchi at a hastily convened press conference on Friday afternoon.”The ECN has fulfilled the statutory requirements … for the by-election and has taken proper care of the logistical arrangements in order to ensure all operational aspects are implemented effectively.The ECN is thus of the view that the claims made by the political parties do not warrant or justify a postponement,” Tonchi stated.About two weeks ago, eight parties – APP, CoD, DTA, RP, RDP, Nudo, Swanu, and UDF – sent a letter to the ECN stating that they could not inspect the voters’ roll as they were not notified.They criticised the ECN for only telling participating parties on Friday, August 29, that supplementary voter registration would start on Monday, September 1, which left them no time to inform voters.The eight parties further complained that the ECN had failed to inform them adequately about the preparations for the by-election.”This whole matter is a joke and the ECN is not serious about our concerns,” a furious representative of the Republican Party, Nico Smit, told The Namibian on Friday.Arnold Tjihuiko of Nudo was also very unhappy.”The ECN did not work properly according to the preparatory schedule and it is unheard of that the parties could not inspect the voters’ roll,” Tjihuiko told The Namibian.The political parties were only informed of the ECN’s decision – by hand delivered-letters – after the press conference.The eight parties will decide today what their next steps will be with regard to their participation in the by-election.