Africa-Press – Namibia. Opposition parties are courting the idea of joining forces to field one presidential candidate to take on Swapo in 2029.
This comes after Landless People’s Movement (LPM) leader Bernadus Swartbooi said he is open to backing a unified opposition presidential candidate for the next elections.
He was speaking to OneAfrica last week in response to questions related to by-elections slated for 17 June.
Swartbooi said the party will not be taking part in the by-elections, but will shift its focus in preparation of the regional and local authority elections in November.
“The politics has long moved on from Swapo – this is where opposition parties must sort themselves out. I am prepared to endorse someone else as president in the next elections,” he said.
Swartbooi said it’s time for opposition parties to start doing things differently and unite to “achieve the unachievable”.
Popular Democratic Movement president McHenry Venaani shares Swartbooi’s sentiments, adding that a joint programme and mutual respect must be present.
He says the ability to work with others will be key.
“As the candidate who came third in the presidential election I can only endorse such a dream if people are serious,” Venaani says.
Official opposition leader Imms Nashinge lauds Swartbooi’s proposal and says other parties should follow suit.
“We’ve done it before.
For example: The Guinas constituency has supported an LPM candidate. Such strategies have the capacity to improve our democracy and end a one-party state,” he says.
Meanwhile, political analyst Henning Melber says Swartbooi’s proposal appears to be pragmatic, but he expresses doubt on whether it could work.
“First of all, a problem is the process of selecting one candidate: Will it be the leader of the official opposition for representing the biggest opposition party? If not, are the contestants drawing a straw? Or who decides?
“Is there a jury judging presentations? Do the opposition parties have a proportional vote based on their representation in the National Assembly when selecting one common candidate? I’m afraid this is not workable.” he says.
Given the different party programmes and the ambitions of the individual party leaders, Melber says one candidate for the entire opposition is an unlikely scenario.
He says it does not guarantee the support of all who vote for opposition parties.
Melber says the only viable option is that Swapo’s candidate fails to reach an absolute majority.
In this scenario, a second round of votes would be called, with the opposition runner-up receiving all non-Swapo votes.
The idea of political parties uniting to field a single presidential candidate is not new in Namibia.
It was floated around 2009 for the presidential and National Assembly elections, however, this did not materialise after the Congress of Democrats, the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance, the Democratic Party of Namibia, the Namibia Unity Democratic Organisation, the United Democratic Front and the Republican Party agreed to join forces.
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