Africa-Press – Namibia. The declaration of next Wednesday as a public holiday for the regional council and local authority elections has faced criticism from several political parties, who say the decision could further strain Namibia’s economy.
President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah declared 26 November a public holiday to allow roughly one million eligible voters to participate in the polls.
Since 2014, election days for both presidential and local authority elections have routinely been declared public holidays.
However, Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters parliamentarian Kalimbo Iipumbu has criticised the decision, calling it “awkward” in a country where many citizens live in poverty.
“Closing down businesses to allow political exercise to take place is awkward and we need to ensure that we give full support to business people because they are providing our people with what they need to survive,” Iipumbu says.
He says his party does not support the president’s decision to declare the election day a public holiday.
“We need to be very responsible and prioritise the betterment of the lives of our people, where we ensure that no Namibian should go to bed hungry.
“Yes, elections are important and we need everyone to participate in the elections.
“But the problem here is that our people have lost trust in our political system because politicians tend to embrace themselves and only count themselves in terms of what they are benefiting from the elections,” he adds.
Iipumbu says voters are told to participate in the elections but they are immediately forgotten thereafter.
“The businesses can’t be closed unless we say that those who want to participate in the elections can do so. You can’t force people to go and participate in the elections when all these days they have been starving and living in poverty,” Iipumbu says.
Rally for Democracy and Progress president Mike Kavekotora says it is a good idea for the president to declare the election day a public holiday but the government is serving too many public holidays.
“That will harm the economy. I think from an economic perspective it will just add on to the dilemma.
“It will negatively affect the economy because trade will not take place, and a lot of businesses will be affected.
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