Namibia began voting on Wednesday at 7:00 a.m. local time in the most uncertain elections ever experienced by the historic ruling party. Its candidate Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, in a position to become the country’s first female president, could be forced into an unprecedented second round.
Nicknamed “NNN”, the Swapo candidate, a 72-year-old figure in the struggle for liberation, cast her ballot as soon as the polling station at the Emma Hoogenhout school in Windhoek, the capital, opened.
“By voting, you ensure that your voice is heard and that it has an impact on your life for the next five years,” launched the current vice-president. “So come and vote in numbers.”
The ballot boxes, blue for the presidential election, yellow for the legislative elections, must be filled until 9:00 p.m. (7:00 p.m. GMT) local time according to the votes of the 1.5 million registered voters, whose counting is expected no later than Saturday, d ‘after the electoral commission.
Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah faces competition from former dentist and lawyer Panduleni Itula. In 2020, he founded his own party, the Independent Patriots Party (IPC).
Massive unemployment, persistent inequalities and generational renewal have eroded support for Swapo in this desert territory of southern Africa, one of the world’s leading suppliers of uranium.
Read also: Elections in Namibia: danger for the historic ruling party
“I want the country to get better and for people to have work,” hopes Hendry Amupanda, 32 years old and first in the line of around a hundred voters waiting in front of the yellow gates of the same polling station in Windhoek.
Slippers on, this self-employed digital entrepreneur arrived at 9:00 p.m. the day before, equipped with a chair, a blanket and snacks. “The result will be close,” he predicts.
Further in the queue, bathed in the first rays of sunlight on the Windhoek basin, Frieda Fillipus hopes to see a woman president. “The feminine represents the future,” proclaims this 31-year-old woman working in the mining industry
A 67-year-old Swapo dissident, Panduleni Itula won 29.4% of the vote in the previous presidential election without a party to rely on. The late President Hage Geingob was re-elected with 56% of the vote.
If the legislative elections are held proportionally, a second round of presidential elections is for the first time a “fairly realistic option”, according to Henning Melber, researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute in Uppsala (Sweden).
This must be held within 60 days following the announcement of the final results, at the latest, according to electoral law.
“The abundant mining activity does not really translate” into “employment opportunities,” observes independent analyst Marisa Lourenço. Which “fuels a large part of the frustration of young people”, 46% of 18-34 year olds were unemployed in 2018, according to the latest figures.
Read also: In southern Africa, disengagement hits the historic parties in power
After three decades of rule by Swapo, a Marxist-inspired movement from the time of the struggle, Namibia remains, after South Africa, the second most unequal country on the planet, according to the World Bank.
The South West African People’s Organization (Swapo), which fought for the independence of the country, under the yoke of apartheid South Africa until 1990, may fear the same fate as its parties. of liberation brothers in the region.
Regional clearance
A wind of change has been blowing in recent months across the south of the African continent with its very young population. In the wake of the electoral setback of the ANC in South Africa, dispossessed of its absolute majority, the BDP in power since 1966 in Botswana was swept away.
Read also: Botswana: new president sworn in, ushering in new era
These parties no longer have the same appeal among “born frees”, these young people born after the liberation of their country. Like the rest of the continent, Namibia has a youthful population: 63% of its 3 million inhabitants are under 30 years old.
“It’s not just that they are young and have not experienced liberation, it’s that they are bearing the brunt of the effects of the economic crisis,” observes Nic Cheeseman, specialist in African politics. at the University of Birmingham.
“The elections now concern basic livelihood issues,” analyzes Tendai Mbanje, researcher at the African Center for Governance, for AFP.
This is why “NNN” promises in its program the creation of more than 250,000 jobs in five years. But Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah warned on Sunday during his final meeting that “the business world can only prosper if politics is stable”.
Par Le360 Africa (with AFP)
11/27/2024 at 7:05 a.m.
