THE Republican Party (RP) will not contest the Tsumeb by-election on March 30.
The party says it will rather focus on setting up more party structures countrywide ahead of the national elections. In a statement released at the end of last week, the President of the RP, Henk Mudge, said the RP had proven its support amongst the electorate in the Windhoek West, and more recently, in the Grootfontein by-elections.Instead of participating in the Tsumeb election, it planned to focus on “consolidating its resources”.The post of Tsumeb Regional Councillor became vacant following the resignation of Swapo’s Nico Kaiyamo last year.However, the party is urging residents in the Tsumeb constituency to register as voters and cast a ballot for another opposition party of their choice.”Citizens, who have withdrawn into voter apathy because they feel that nothing will change anyway, are uninformed.By staying away from the polls, you support the ruling party or at least give the impression that you are satisfied with the way the ruling party runs the affairs of your constituency,” said Mudge.Supplementary registration starts on Wednesday.About 9 000 people are currently registered as voters in the constituency.Swapo’s Lebbius Tobias, Nudo’s Robert Neidel, the DTA-UDF coalition’s Victoria Ochurus and the CoD’s Rainhold Hoaeb will be vying for the post of regional councillor.Despite coming last in the Grootfontein by-election two weeks ago, the RP said it was satisfied at having contributed to preventing a two-thirds majority for the ruling party.By doing so, it felt this had not only strengthened the opposition but Government as a whole.”If you vote for Swapo, you strengthen the mandate of the Government of the day and if you vote for the opposition, you increase the pressure to improve and thereby ensure an effective government,” said Mudge.In a statement released at the end of last week, the President of the RP, Henk Mudge, said the RP had proven its support amongst the electorate in the Windhoek West, and more recently, in the Grootfontein by-elections. Instead of participating in the Tsumeb election, it planned to focus on “consolidating its resources”. The post of Tsumeb Regional Councillor became vacant following the resignation of Swapo’s Nico Kaiyamo last year. However, the party is urging residents in the Tsumeb constituency to register as voters and cast a ballot for another opposition party of their choice. “Citizens, who have withdrawn into voter apathy because they feel that nothing will change anyway, are uninformed. By staying away from the polls, you support the ruling party or at least give the impression that you are satisfied with the way the ruling party runs the affairs of your constituency,” said Mudge. Supplementary registration starts on Wednesday. About 9 000 people are currently registered as voters in the constituency. Swapo’s Lebbius Tobias, Nudo’s Robert Neidel, the DTA-UDF coalition’s Victoria Ochurus and the CoD’s Rainhold Hoaeb will be vying for the post of regional councillor. Despite coming last in the Grootfontein by-election two weeks ago, the RP said it was satisfied at having contributed to preventing a two-thirds majority for the ruling party. By doing so, it felt this had not only strengthened the opposition but Government as a whole. “If you vote for Swapo, you strengthen the mandate of the Government of the day and if you vote for the opposition, you increase the pressure to improve and thereby ensure an effective government,” said Mudge.
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