Opposition rivalry helps Swapo, says DTA leader

THE outcome of the Grootfontein by-election shows that division among opposition parties only works in favour of Swapo, DTA President Katuutire Kaura said at the weekend in reaction to the poll result.

The result of the by-election was devastating to the DTA. Its support among voters at Grootfontein plummeted to an all-time low and the Congress of Democrats (CoD) for the first time eclipsed it in the Grootfontein constituency.One of the parties that last year broke away from the DTA, the National Unity Democratic Organisation (Nudo), succeeded in pulling more votes than the DTA despite having been officially registered as a political party only a little over two months ago.In a press statement released on Saturday, Kaura was magnanimous in congratulating the CoD for its “outstanding performance” at Grootfontein.He reserved his sharper remarks for Nudo and those with “powerful financial resources” who he said were now attacking the DTA “from both left and right”.Kaura took aim at Nudo, referring to it as “the New Nudo”, and saying that there was a definite possibility that the new party was being helped by Swapo to gain support and that it will later in the year, as a trade-off, support a fourth term in office for President Sam Nujoma.”New Nudo” now enjoys the novelty of a new party, just like a fellow DTA breakaway, the Republican Party, had done with the by-election in Windhoek West last year, when it ended third in the poll, Kaura remarked.He added that the combined opposition could have done much better had they pooled their resources and rallied behind one candidate, instead of fighting each other.A combined opposition could also have encouraged the thousands of voters who did not take part in the by-election – where about 53 per cent of the electorate voted – to actually cast their votes, Kaura added.According to Kaura these voters are of cardinal importance, because without them even a combined opposition will not be able to prevent Swapo from winning every constituency in the country.He remarked that under the current circumstances “where the DTA is attacked daily from both left and right and where at least one newspaper belonging to a Charitable Trust is being unashamedly used to try and kill the DTA to the advantage of Swapo” – a thinly veiled reference to the acrimony that has recently marked the party’s relationship with a one-time staunch supporter, the daily newspaper Republikein – the party did not do as well as it could.Kaura added that this would still not prevent the DTA from continuing to promote the policies and principles it believed in.Its support among voters at Grootfontein plummeted to an all-time low and the Congress of Democrats (CoD) for the first time eclipsed it in the Grootfontein constituency. One of the parties that last year broke away from the DTA, the National Unity Democratic Organisation (Nudo), succeeded in pulling more votes than the DTA despite having been officially registered as a political party only a little over two months ago. In a press statement released on Saturday, Kaura was magnanimous in congratulating the CoD for its “outstanding performance” at Grootfontein. He reserved his sharper remarks for Nudo and those with “powerful financial resources” who he said were now attacking the DTA “from both left and right”. Kaura took aim at Nudo, referring to it as “the New Nudo”, and saying that there was a definite possibility that the new party was being helped by Swapo to gain support and that it will later in the year, as a trade-off, support a fourth term in office for President Sam Nujoma. “New Nudo” now enjoys the novelty of a new party, just like a fellow DTA breakaway, the Republican Party, had done with the by-election in Windhoek West last year, when it ended third in the poll, Kaura remarked. He added that the combined opposition could have done much better had they pooled their resources and rallied behind one candidate, instead of fighting each other. A combined opposition could also have encouraged the thousands of voters who did not take part in the by-election – where about 53 per cent of the electorate voted – to actually cast their votes, Kaura added. According to Kaura these voters are of cardinal importance, because without them even a combined opposition will not be able to prevent Swapo from winning every constituency in the country. He remarked that under the current circumstances “where the DTA is attacked daily from both left and right and where at least one newspaper belonging to a Charitable Trust is being unashamedly used to try and kill the DTA to the advantage of Swapo” – a thinly veiled reference to the acrimony that has recently marked the party’s relationship with a one-time staunch supporter, the daily newspaper Republikein – the party did not do as well as it could. Kaura added that this would still not prevent the DTA from continuing to promote the policies and principles it believed in.