Swapo wins national election

NAMIBIA’S governing party won the national election, the electoral commission announced at the weekend, but lost its two-thirds majority for the first time since independence.

Swapo won 65.5% of the vote, the Electoral Commission of Namibia said, giving the party 63 out of the 96 seats in parliament.

Its closest rival, the Popular Democratic Movement, won 16.6% of the vote, giving it 16 seats.

Swapo has been in power since Namibia gained independence from South Africa in 1990.

Incumbent President Hage Geingob also held on to power, winning 56.3% of the vote in a presidential election held in parallel with the parliamentary polls last Wednesday.

Despite securing a second term, Geingob’s popularity has dropped from the 87% landslide he got in the 2014 election.

The 78-year-old Swapo president lost support in the wake of a corruption scandal and a struggling economy.

“I’m glad out of this competition I emerged as the victor,” Geingob said at the electoral commission’s headquarters in the capital Windhoek. “Democracy was the biggest winner.”

Running on an anti-corruption ticket, independent candidate Panduleni Itula garnered 29.4% of the vote.

Standing for the first time, Itula is also a member of Swapo, but launched a challenge to Geingob in October.

Itula was a popular candidate among Namibia’s youth, who are struggling to find jobs in the droughtridden nation.

Young people showed a willingness to participate in the voting process, said Electoral Commission of Namibia chairperson advocate Notemba Tjipueja.

About 30% of voters were born after independence and nearly 10% were voting for the first time. Voter turnout was 61%. |