Political Perspective

IT’S going to be a tough and unenviable call for President Hifikepunye Pohamba vis-a-vis his 10 choices for the parliamentary list at the Swapo Electoral College which takes place this weekend, especially since he’s already made promises to the Swapo Party Youth League (SPYL) and the Women’s Council to accommodate their suggestions.

And apart from promises to these wings of the ruling party, President Pohamba has also apparently been lobbied by some of the incumbent senior Government leadership who are a little afraid of being left out in the cold.SO all eyes on him to see whether he’s going to make overtures to try to fix the largely damaged relations between himself and the SPYL and appoint some of the names on their list, trying to make room for the Women’s Council. Or he could try to ensure that some of the older Party faithful, some of who risk disappearing to the bottom half of the list, or be eliminated altogether, get back into Parliament.It’s no secret that SPYL have been making their presence felt of late, demanding new blood and fresh leadership, and in the process friction has been the order of the day between them, the President, and some of the Ministers who have been in their gun sights for a while now.Pohamba might well be caught between a rock and a hard place. Some of those whose popularity has waned with the youth to the extent that they’re either or almost regarded as ‘hibernators’ within the ruling party, are among those closest to Pohamba himself, and so his ‘top 10’ is going to be closely scrutinised for signs and signals as to the direction he’s going to take the Government from now on.But it is obviously my hope that in his balancing act, his choices will be made on merit, rather than on trying to placate various branches of the ruling party, but this still doesn’t make things easier for him when he sifts through the names and decides whether old loyalties count more than new blood, for example.It must also be remembered that although a Swapo list of 72 will be elected this weekend, that the President still retains the privilege of appointing another six people down the line. So if some are overlooked when it comes to the weekend choices, and he’d prefer them not to be, he can put them back into the picture.Most people are at this point aware that the Swapo Electoral College will select a list of 72. The first three on the list are of course the hierarchy of the party from Vice President Hage Geingob, to the Secretary General and Deputy Secretary General respectively. The next 20 are elected by number of votes, followed by the President’s 10 and a second group of 10 voted for by the Electoral College, woven into the middle of the list, bringing the top section to 43 people who are virtually guaranteed going through to Parliament, unless the tables are completely turned against Swapo in the upcoming national elections, which at present nobody seriously believes will happen! The rest of those selected for the list down to 72, are also put on the list in order of votes polled by the 210 delegates to the Electoral College.The order of voting at the weekend will also be interesting, but the President’s choices are probably going to be the focus of most attention, and analysts will be looking at whether he is going to be his own man in this process, or lean towards reconciliation and compromise, or a bit of both of the above.Some of the names forwarded to him, we believe, are very interesting in that they cater for minorities, certain races, and even some State House staff members he overlooked in the past!There are undoubtedly some nervous folk out there right now, most particularly a few of the incumbent political hierarchy in Government. There are even indications that at least one of their number, who has already indicated he would be standing down, might well have also lobbied for a place in the President’s selection!All in all no easy task for President Pohamba and we understand the ‘old man’, former President Sam Nujoma, will also be there to see how things play out!