The RDP Insists On A Level Playing Field

WITH just few months to go before this year’s general elections, there is considerable excitement in the country. On occasion, it has degraded into violent political clashes, as the nation has witnessed at places like Outapi, Onyaanya and Tobias Hainyeko.

Indeed, incidents of public harassment and intimidation have been widespread enough to have aroused general concern. Many people have been asking themselves whether the elections will be genuinely free and fair. They thought that after nearly 20 years of self-determination and experience with multiparty electoral contests, the elections would be a routine matter. The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN), many believed, would have perfected its procedures of conducting elections. But against the background of violent political clashes and intemperate language by the ruling party, many concerned Namibians have started organising prayers and calling on God to bless the process and deliver a peaceful election. They correctly reckon that a peaceful election is possible only when the playing field is level, that is when the election rules and regulations apply justly and fairly to all political parties and candidates. However, at present it is clear that a number of conditions are not conducive to truly free and fair elections. In short, the playing field is skewed.Government and the ECN, which is charged with organising and supervising elections, have been engaged in delaying tactics and prevarication as far as getting all the conditions of free and fair elections right. This is particularly true regarding the implementation of the draft amendment bill to the country’s electoral law, which has been long agreed upon by all political parties and the ECN itself. One of the main issues addressed by the amendment bill is the highly contentious matter of transportation of ballot boxes from the polling stations to a central counting centre. This procedure provides room for the elections to be rigged. The bill has been on the desk of the Ministry of Regional and Local Government and Housing since the days of the late Minister John Pandeni. The fact that his successor also lacks the political will to proceed with its implementation is worrying and provides cause for suspicion. Transporting ballot boxes has long been recognised as creating opportunities for missing ballot boxes and other boxes being sneaked in; and that is a violation of the salient principle of free and fair elections.For this reason, the SADC Protocol on elections has called for this dubious handling of very sensitive election material, stuffed ballot boxes, to be discarded. Namibia is co-signatory to the SADC electoral protocol. Therefore, Government and the ECN must follow through with the necessary action to end what is an obvious invitation to electoral fraud. Up until now both Government and the ECN have been unable to inform this nation as to how several stuffed ballot boxes ended up being discovered along the banks of the Okahandja River during the 2004 general elections. Obviously, most people came to the conclusion that the disgraceful incident was a result of the unsavoury practice of the transportation of ballot boxes. It is a blemish on our democracy that must be done away with now.BALLOT PAPERSEqually inadmissible is the printing of ballot papers by Namprint, a Swapo owned and operated company. The RDP has time and again drawn the ECN’s attention to the fact that it is unconscionable for a Swapo company to be allowed to produce these very sensitive election materials. Swapo has been and is a contestant in all Namibia’s elections. As such, it should never have been assigned the task of printing the election ballot papers. That the ECN allowed this is irresponsible in the extreme. It is a breach of the principle of electoral fairness. There are other companies in the land that are equally capable or even more efficient than Namprint to print the ballot papers. And the RDP’s repeated protests about this issue have been ignored with contempt by the ECN. Clearly the printing of the ballot papers by Namprint compromises the integrity and transparency of the electoral process, and it should be abandoned forthwith.Twenty years down the road, the national institutions tasked with functioning with a degree of independence, like the ECN, still show undue subservience to the forces that be.THE MEDIAAnother concern as to whether the elections will be genuinely free, open and democratic is Government’s meddling with media freedom. Democratic elections cannot take place without vibrant media operations. The RDP views the media not only as an integral part of the entrenchment of democracy but as fostering national development. They are also vital as whistle-blowers and watchdogs within our society, especially in these days of rampant corruption. But instead of encouraging the media to be a progressive force that supports human rights and shapes new ideas in an open society, through informed and impartial reporting and analyses, Government tends to interfere, from time to time, with media operations, especially the broadcast media. The recent attempt to shut down the popular Namibian radio programme, ‘Chat Show’, is a case in point. It is one of the most widely listened-to programmes in Namibia, partly because it allowed people to express their views on air, and partly because it ran during the morning rush hour.According to one general manager at the NBC, who is infuriated by the many conflicting agendas at the NBC, Government wanted to take the programme off the air because ‘it has become a threat to the ruling party’. The Government was, however, forced by public demand to re-instate the ‘Chat Show’. But it has now been put in a very awkward slot where it airs at the same time as another popular programme, ‘Ewi Lamanguluka’, just to make it difficult for many to phone in and participate in debate as was the case before. As efforts were being made to close down the ‘Chat Show’, the then Director General of the NBC was fired. Since then, the position has become a hot seat, so much so that three director generals have been appointed, removed and replaced within three months. The ongoing hiring and firing of media practitioners is a reflection of the jitters besetting ruling circles, as the elections approach. The authorities are trying to intimidate and manipulate the State media and to thereby ensure that there is no room for fair competition regarding the market of ideas. Rather, the attempt is to keep the NBC as a propaganda tool for the ruling party.The fact is that Government and the ECN are playing delaying tactics to avoid addressing critical issues like stopping the transportation of ballot boxes.The RDP has warned, time and again, that these practices are inappropriate and unacceptable. They must be replaced forthwith. Virtually half of the legislative year has already gone by and the electoral amendment bill has still not been tabled in parliament. Why this lack of urgency? Our demand is in line with the SADC protocol on elections, a protocol to which Namibia is, we repeat, a co-signatory. We must also re-emphasise that the assignment of the tender to a Swapo company to print the ballot papers must cease. If the will to level the playing field exists, the ECN can halt this wrong practice by the stroke of a pen. Indeed, the ECN should never have allowed this impartial practice to persist, even in the face of several written RDP objections.To conclude, we must reiterate that in a multiparty political system, such as ours, elections are the hallmark of democratic politics. They provide a unique opportunity for voters to indicate their preferred candidates, priorities, interests and concerns through exercising their right to vote. Elections are the only just and fair means of filling public office through a peaceful and competitive struggle to win the people’s vote. The RDP has been born to make this struggle to win the people’s vote a reality. Our uncompromising demand is that Government and the ECN be prevailed upon to do their due diligence by ensuring that the playing field is actually levelled. The RDP will not relent or accept fraudulent manoeuvres to skew the democratic process. We will keep it under thorough-going scrutiny at every stage.- Hidipo Hamutenya is the President of the RDP