Govt set to introduce law on holding referendums

PRESIDENT Hifikepunye Pohamba has announced that draft legislation on the holding of referendums will be introduced soon and will be passed into law by 2008.

Speaking at the launch of the Internet version of former Prime Minister Hage Geingob’s doctoral thesis on ‘State Formation in Namibia’ in Windhoek on Thursday night, Pohamba said a referendum law was missing in the country’s legal framework. “I am convinced that we need to reinforce our legal framework by bringing forth the Referendum Act, which will enable our nation to express itself with a clear and unequivocal voice on issues of national interest,” Pohamba said.”Article 132 of the Namibian Constitution requires that such a law should be on our statute book.”Pohamba said he believed such a law was necessary “in order to fill the gap that exists in our legal framework”.”It is against this background that I have instructed the Minister of Presidential Affairs to prepare a draft Referendum Bill for consideration by Cabinet with an ultimate goal of tabling it in Parliament.”It is my hope that the debate on the proposed Bill will be conducted smoothly in consultation with all relevant stakeholders so that the Referendum Act can be passed by the Legislature and signed into law before the end of 2008,” President Pohamba said.He did not say whether any referendum was planned, and if so on which issue.Article 132 falls under Chapter 19 of the Constitution, which provides for constitutional amendments.In order to amend the Constitution, a two-thirds majority of both the National Assembly and the National Council is required.Should an amendment to the Constitution achieve the two-thirds majority in the National Assembly but not in the National Council, the head of state “may by proclamation make the Bill containing the proposed repeals and/or amendments the subject of a national referendum,” according to Article 132 (3a).Under (3b) it states further that a referendum would require a new law.Earlier in his speech Pohamba said: “We as a Government are fully committed to implement the letter and spirit of our Constitution, more specifically Chapter Three which guarantees the fundamental human rights and freedoms of all citizens (…).We will continue to respect the principle of the separation of powers between the Executive, the Judiciary and the Legislative (…).Within the limitations imposed by a democratic society, we will also jealously defend our people’s right to express themselves and make their voices heard on issues that affect them.Our strongly held view is underpinned by the belief that democracy is about choice.”Once the people have expressed themselves democratically and within the letter and spirit of our laws, the majority view must be upheld and respected.”Minister of Presidential Affairs, Dr Albert Kawana, who is responsible for preparing a draft Referendum Bill – and not the Office of the Attorney General – said it was not sufficient for the nation to give Government a mandate every five years only.The next national elections will be held at the end of 2009.”The philosophy of President Pohamba is that from time to time issues of national interest must be brought back to the nation for the nation to express itself,” Kawana told The Namibian.He too declined to indicate on what issue the first ever referendum in Namibia would be held.However, a source within the ruling party told this newspaper that there have been discussions within Swapo in the past 18 months on the possibility of scrapping the position of Prime Minister and creating a Vice President’s post in Government.”This would clarify the issue of succession and the nation would know who the next President would be,” the source said.”It will remove a lot of uncertainty and add to stability.”In a first reaction, a member of an opposition party said President Pohamba’s announcement was “a big surprise”.Nora Schimming-Chase, Vice President of the Congress of Democrats (CoD), told The Namibian that she wondered “why we need a referendum and if it entails a change of the Constitution, it is worrying”.Schimming-Chase also wanted to know who would organise and run the referendum.”The Electoral Commission or some of its staff? This must be determined very carefully,” the CoD leader said.For the sake of transparency and democratic principles, each political party should be properly represented on the body that would run a referendum and monitor the counting of votes very closely, Schimming-Chase emphasised.”I am convinced that we need to reinforce our legal framework by bringing forth the Referendum Act, which will enable our nation to express itself with a clear and unequivocal voice on issues of national interest,” Pohamba said.”Article 132 of the Namibian Constitution requires that such a law should be on our statute book.”Pohamba said he believed such a law was necessary “in order to fill the gap that exists in our legal framework”.”It is against this background that I have instructed the Minister of Presidential Affairs to prepare a draft Referendum Bill for consideration by Cabinet with an ultimate goal of tabling it in Parliament.”It is my hope that the debate on the proposed Bill will be conducted smoothly in consultation with all relevant stakeholders so that the Referendum Act can be passed by the Legislature and signed into law before the end of 2008,” President Pohamba said.He did not say whether any referendum was planned, and if so on which issue.Article 132 falls under Chapter 19 of the Constitution, which provides for constitutional amendments.In order to amend the Constitution, a two-thirds majority of both the National Assembly and the National Council is required.Should an amendment to the Constitution achieve the two-thirds majority in the National Assembly but not in the National Council, the head of state “may by proclamation make the Bill containing the proposed repeals and/or amendments the subject of a national referendum,” according to Article 132 (3a).Under (3b) it states further that a referendum would require a new law.Earlier in his speech Pohamba said: “We as a Government are fully committed to implement the letter and spirit of our Constitution, more specifically Chapter Three which guarantees the fundamental human rights and freedoms of all citizens (…).We will continue to respect the principle of the separation of powers between the Executive, the Judiciary and the Legislative (…).Within the limitations imposed by a democratic society, we will also jealously defend our people’s right to express themselves and make their voices heard on issues that affect them.Our strongly held view is underpinned by the belief that democracy is about choice.”Once the people have expressed themselves democratically and within the letter and spirit of our laws, the majority view must be upheld and respected.”Minister of Presidential Affairs, Dr Albert Kawana, who is responsible for preparing a draft Referendum Bill – and not the Office of the Attorney General – said it was not sufficient for the nation to give Government a mandate every five years only.The next national elections will be held at the end of 2009.”The philosophy of President Pohamba is that from time to time issues of national interest must be brought back to the nation for the nation to express itself,” Kawana told The Namibian.He too declined to indicate on what issue the first ever referendum in Namibia would be held.However, a source within the ruling party told this newspaper that there have been discussions within Swapo in the past 18 months on the possibility of scrapping the position of Prime Minister and creating a Vice President’s post in Government.”This would clarify the issue of succession and the nation would know who the next President would be,” the source said.”It will remove a lot of uncertainty and add to stability.”In a first reaction, a member of an opposition party said President Pohamba’s announcement was “a big surprise”.Nora Schimming-Chase, Vice President of the Congress of Democrats (CoD), told The Namibian that she wondered “why we need a referendum and if it entails a change of the Constitution, it is worrying”.Schimming-Chase also wanted to know who would organise and run the referendum.”The Electoral Commission or some of its staff? This must be determined very carefully,” the CoD leader said.For the sake of transparency and democratic principles, each political party should be properly represented on the body that would run a referendum and monitor the counting of votes very closely, Schimming-Chase emphasised.