Presidential election in Namibia 2014

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Voting machine from India as it is to be used for the first time in Namibia.
Hage Geingob, elected President on November 28, 2014

The 2014 presidential election in Namibia took place on November 28, 2014 together with the parliamentary election. On November 14, 2014, seafarers and Namibians abroad voted.

Hage Geingob emerged as the winner - at an unprecedented level for Namibian elections . He has been the third president of independent Namibia since March 21, 2015 .

The President of Namibia was elected in a transparent, peaceful, secret and free election . For the first time, electronic voting machines were used for voting . In addition, for the first time in the history of the country, voting took place on just one day. November 28, 2014 was also declared a national holiday.

election day

Some of the polling stations opened on election day with up to three hours late, as there were numerous failures of the electronic voting machines and, above all, of the voter verification machines. Already in the early morning queues that were tens of meters long formed in front of almost all polling stations across the country. In some cases, voters had to wait up to six hours to cast their votes. As early as noon on election day, the electoral commission announced that all voters who were waiting when the polling stations closed at 9 p.m. could still cast their votes. By noon there was talk of a very high turnout.

Numerous polling stations were open due to the crowds until the early morning of November 30th. Yet tens of thousands of Namibians were unable to cast their votes.

The development community of Southern Africa and the African Union described the elections as transparent, peaceful, free and fair. Some areas of the election campaign, voting and counting were criticized.

Election result

The election result was announced on December 1, 2014. The turnout was 71.79 percent (of 1,241,194 registered voters).

Source: Namibian Electoral Commission

Presidential candidate (party) be right Voting shares
Hage Geingob ( SWAPO ) 772.528 86.73%
McHenry Venaani ( DTA ) 44,271 4.97%
Hidipo Hamutenya ( RDP ) 30.197 3.39%
Asser Mbai ( NUDO ) 16,740 1.88%
Henk Mudge ( RP ) 8,676 0.97%
Ignatius Shixwameni ( APP ) 7,266 0.82%
Usutuaije Maamberua ( SWANU ) 5,028 0.56%
Ben Ulenga ( COD ) 3,518 0.39%
Epafras Mukwiilongo ( NEFF ) 2,514 0.28%
total 890.738 100%

Candidates

All candidates had to submit their registration to the Namibian Election Commission by October 29, 2014 at 5 p.m. The following nine candidates were admitted by the election commission.

List of candidates

APP

The All People's Party confirmed the party president Ignatius Shixwameni in office at the party conference from May 2 to 5, 2013 . He ran as the party's top candidate in the 2014 presidential election.

COD

The Congress of Democrats sent in for the fourth consecutive year the party president Ben Ulenga in the race for the post of president. Ulenga was confirmed as party leader on July 6th.

DTA

The DTA of Namibia held its party congress on September 7, 2013. McHenry Venaani was elected party leader, making it a candidate for the 2014 presidential election.

NUDO

The National Unity Democratic Organization (NUDO) held its party conference on February 2 and 3, 2013. Kuaima Riruako was confirmed unopposed as party president. He was supposed to lead the party into the presidential and parliamentary elections after 2004 and 2009 , but died after a short illness on June 2, 2014 in Windhoek. Asser Mbai was appointed as the new party president on July 6, 2014 , and he also ran as a presidential candidate for NUDO.

RDP

The Rally for Democracy and Progress (Namibia) as the largest opposition party confirmed Hidipo Hamutenya on November 9, 2013 at a large party congress in the office of party president. He thus ran again as a presidential candidate after 2009.

RP

The Republican Party of Namibia had spoken out in support of the SWAPO presidential candidate Hage Geingob. In the end, the party registered its own candidate, Henk Mudge .

SWAPO

The discussion on the presidential candidate for the 2014 election began after the 2009 presidential elections. Traditionally, the SWAPO party president will also be the presidential candidate of his party. According to the current status, this will be the current party vice-president Hage Geingob . Should he run and win the presidential election, he would be the first President of Namibia who is not part of the Ovambo people . The General Secretary and Justice Minister Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana , who would be the first woman to take up the post , were also given further chances to run for the presidency . Vice Secretary-General and Security Minister Nangolo Mbumba also has little chance .

Since President Hifikepunye Pohamba holds the chairmanship of the party, but is not allowed to run for a third term due to the Namibian constitution , the vice-president is automatically raised to the position of presidential candidate.

The Central Committee met on March 12 and 13, 2011 for the fourth time. Here it became clear that the presidential candidacy has not been decided, with Hage Geingob and Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana continuing to be given the best chances, but Minister for Housing and Rural Development Jerry Ekandjo has also expressed interest. Prime Minister Nahas Angula, however, has ruled out a candidacy.

In October 2012, three party members expressed their interest in the position of vice-party president at a SWAPO party congress. Besides Geingob, these are Iivula-Ithana and Ekandjo.

On December 1, 2012, Geingob was able to prevail against his two competitors and was confirmed in the office of Vice-Party President. He is therefore considered to be a presidential candidate in the 2014 presidential election.

On September 7, 2014, Geingob was officially declared a candidate for the presidency of SWAPO.

SWANU

The SWANU of Namibia presented its election program on July 21, 2014. It was also Usutuaije Maamberua announced as the official presidential candidate of the party.

UDF

The United Democratic Front of Namibia has spoken out in favor of the SWAPO presidential candidate Hage Geingob in the presidential election due to the ethnic origin ( Damara ).

Voter registration

Voter registration took place between January 15 and March 2, 2014. Almost 3,000 mobile and stationary registration offices were available for this purpose. The electoral roll was drawn up by mid-June 2014 after some complaints. A subsequent registration took place in September 2014. A total of 1,241,194 voters are eligible for the 2014 election.

Election campaign

The election campaign began unofficially with the presentation of the ruling SWAPO's election program on September 6, 2014. Although other parties have already presented their election program before SWAPO, the active election campaign traditionally begins when the SWAPO election program is announced.

Legal action by two opposition parties

The RDP and the WRP took action on November 27, 2014 against the use of electronic voting machines, as they do not generate a control printout. The urgent motion to postpone the elections to February 2015 was rejected by the Windhoek High Court on November 26th .

Constitutional amendment

On October 13, 2014, the most far-reaching reform of the political system since Namibia's independence took place, after weeks of controversial discussion. The most important changes were decided:

  • Increase in elected parliamentary seats to 96 (previously 72)
  • Increase in the number of MPs appointed by the President to eight (previously six)
  • thereby increasing the total number of MPs in parliament from 78 to 104
  • Increase in the number of seats in the National Council from currently two seats per region to three seats; thus instead of 26 seats (13 regions) in future 42 seats (14 regions)
  • Introduction of the position of Vice President

The introduction of a threshold clause of five percent was initially planned, but was rejected by the Prime Minister as well as voting rights for the members of parliament appointed by the President.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ ECN: Namibia will vote on November 28th. Allgemeine Zeitung, October 1, 2014. Retrieved October 7, 2014
  2. ^ Swapo and Geingob take early lead. The Namibian, November 15, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2014
  3. ↑ October 21, 2014 News in the evening. Hitradio Namibia, October 21, 2014  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. accessed on October 21, 2014@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.hitradio.com.na  
  4. ↑ Voter apathy highly likely at Keetmanshoop urban. The Namibian, November 28, 2014 Retrieved November 28, 2014
  5. ↑ 11/28/2014 News at noon. Hitradio Namibia, November 28, 2014 ( memento from November 30, 2014 in the web archive archive.today ) accessed on November 28, 2014
  6. ↑ 11/28/2014 News in the evening. Hitradio Namibia, November 28, 2014 ( memento from November 30, 2014 in the web archive archive.today ) accessed on November 28, 2014
  7. ↑ 11/29/2014 News in the evening. Hitradio Namibia, November 29, 2014 ( memento from November 30, 2014 in the web archive archive.today ) accessed on November 29, 2014
  8. ↑ Electoral chaos negates voting rights. Allgemeine Zeitung, December 1, 2014. Accessed December 1, 2014
  9. ↑ 12/1/2014 morning news. Hitradio Namibia, December 1, 2014 ( Memento from December 1, 2014 in the web archive archive.today ) accessed on December 1, 2014
  10. ↑ hitradio.com.na ( memento from October 30, 2014 in the web archive archive.today ) October 30, 2014 news in the morning. Hitradio Namibia, October 30, 2014, accessed October 30, 2014
  11. ^ Presidential Candidates: 2014 Elections. Electoral Commission of Namibia, October 29, 2014 ( memento of November 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) accessed on November 4, 2014
  12. ^ Shixwameni Re-Elected As APP President. The Namibian, May 6, 2013 Retrieved May 6, 2013
  13. ↑ CoD elects new board. Allgemeine Zeitung, July 8, 2014. Retrieved July 8, 2014
  14. ^ Morning news. Hitradio Namibia, September 8, 2013
  15. ↑ RIRUAKO STILL DOMINATES NUDO. Windhoek Observer, February 1, 2013 ( Memento of September 17, 2013 in the Internet Archive ). Retrieved on February 4, 2013
  16. ↑ HH wins while party works on unity. The Namibian, November 11, 2013 Retrieved November 11, 2013
  17. ↑ a b Wrangle over Geingob… Prime Minister says no one must feel left out. New Era, July 17, 2014. Retrieved August 4, 2014
  18. ↑ RP withdraws Geingob support… Swapo unfazed by 11th hour decision. New Era, October 29, 2014. Retrieved October 30, 2014
  19. ↑ Swapo Succession Race Heats Up, The Namibian, February 3, 2010, accessed March 6, 2011
  20. ↑ Succession debate must be public, Namibia Economist, February 25, 2011, accessed on March 6, 2011
  21. ↑ Swapo congress to ratify succession plan, New Era, February 18, 2011 ( memento of September 5, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ), accessed on March 6, 2011
  22. ↑ Pohamba puts a lid on debates, The Namibian, March 14, 2011 ( Memento of September 4, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
  23. ↑ Geingob declared party candidate. The Namibian, September 8, 2014. Retrieved September 8, 2014
  24. ↑ a b SWANU Launches Manifesto, Campaign Flyer and Presidential Candidate. SWANU, July 21, 2014 ( memento of July 30, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) accessed on September 10, 2014
  25. ↑ March 17, 2014 morning news. Hitradio Namibia, March 17, 2013 ( memento from March 17, 2014 in the web archive archive.today ), accessed on March 17, 2014
  26. ↑ In eight minutes to the voting card. Allgemeine Zeitung, January 13, 2014 - accessed January 14, 2014.
  27. ↑ 6/21/2014 morning news. Hitradio Namibia, June 21, 2014 ( memento from July 3, 2014 in the web archive archive.today ) accessed on July 2, 2014
  28. ↑ National Voters Register 2014. Electoral Commission of Namibia, November 7, 2014 ( memento of September 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) accessed on November 14, 2014
  29. ^ Swapo launches election manifesto. The Namibian, September 8, 2014. Retrieved September 10, 2014
  30. ↑ 11/26/2014 News at noon. Hitradio Namibia, November 26, 2014 ( memento from November 30, 2014 in the web archive archive.today ) accessed on November 27, 2014
  31. ↑ Election shocker. Informanté, July 3, 2014 ( memento of July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) accessed on July 4, 2014
  32. ↑ Constitutional amendment ment finally gazetted. New Era, October 15, 2014. Retrieved November 3, 2014