Stefanus Nashama
Unlike other political parties, the All People’s Party (APP) has only nominated 50 people for parliament.
Last Wednesday, the party released a list of only 50 candidates, whereas other parties have 96.
The party’s leader, Ambrosius Kumbwa, told the Windhoek Observer last week that there is no need for a complete list since no political party has obtained 96 seats in parliament before.
“We are not interested in 96 seats.” No one has managed to get so many seats before, not even the Swapo, which used to have the majority,” he said.
Kumbwa attributed his reasoning to the party’s membership, which stands at about 40 000 members.
“We are a small party. Some of our people are not even capable of sitting in the chamber to make laws. Why would we need a complete list?” he asked.
Kumbwa added that the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) allows for a minimum of 32 candidates on the party list and 96 maximum.
“We follow what the ECN has put in place. It is not mandatory to have 96 candidates,” he stated.
According to Kumbwa, if elected into power, the APP government will not include deputy ministers to reduce government expenditure.
“We aim to reduce the cabinet and save government expenditure,” he stated.
The candidates are from Kavango East (16), Erongo (6), Khomas (5), Kavango-West (4), ||Karas (4), Otjozondjupa (4), Omaheke (3), Zambezi (2), Hardap (2), Ohangwena (1), Omusati (1), Oshikoto (1) and Kunene (1).
According to the party list, no candidates came from the Oshana region.
According to Kumbwa, the situation is due to Kavango East’s majority representation.
“Each organisation has its base from where more votes come. That is the reason for having more candidates from Kavango East,” he said.
He cited Swapo as an example, saying that when it started, the majority were Aawambo people.
“We are not neglecting anyone, and we are not a tribal party,” he said.
The gender representation on the party list consisted of 20 females and 30 men.
Kumbwa promised to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor if APP attained power.
“Rich people are few, while poor people are many. We want to make it vice versa,” he said.
Political analyst Sakaria Johannes had no issues with APP’s 50-person party list.
“As long as the party meets the minimum number, it should be good to go. It would only be an issue if they couldn’t meet the minimum number,” he said.
Johannes added that the APP could save resources by not inviting too many people, especially since no party has ever obtained 96 seats.
