Lazarus Kwedhi
Namibians did not stand in long queues in November 2024 to watch Members of Parliament shout at each other. We did not vote to create “chaos, disruption and delay in passing bills”.
We voted because 34 years of automatic two-thirds majority rule failed to deliver the central promise of the liberation struggle and independence: that no Namibian would be poor, that education and health would be free, and that land would be returned to its rightful owners.
Today, the 8th Parliament looks messy. Bills are delayed. There are points of order, removals, walkouts and contestation.
The ruling party has responded by blame-shifting and scapegoating the opposition, indirectly appealing to the public not to vote for opposition parties in the next election.
But to understand what is happening, we must understand two things: group formation and change management. What we are witnessing is not the collapse of Parliament. It is the birth of a new Parliament.
The storming stage: From monopoly to contestation
In organisational psychology, every group moves through four stages: forming, storming, norming and performing.
From 1990 to 2024, Parliament was in the “forming” stage, whereby one party held a two-thirds majority. Bills were proposed, numbers were counted and bills were passed.
Debate was largely performative because the outcome was predetermined. Everyone knew their role. The culture was one of command: propose, impose and pass the bill.
The 2024 election broke that culture. For the first time since independence, no party commands an automatic majority in Parliament.
Six parties are represented. Every clause, every budget line and every appointment must now be argued and persuaded.
This is “storming”. Roles are being tested. Authority is being questioned. The rules of the House are being applied in new ways. It is loud. It is uncomfortable. It is slow.
But the storming stage is not a failure. It is development. You cannot move from monopoly to democracy without friction. If we expect storming to look like forming, we will call it chaos. If we understand storming, we will call it necessary.
Resistance to change: Why blame-shifting is happening
The second lens is change management. A 34-year monopoly in Parliament creates a culture. That culture was: “We are the government. We decide. You, opposition, must conform.”
Now the culture must shift to: “We are the government. We must be convinced. We may have to amend. Then we pass the bill collectively.”
That shift is not easy. To the ruling party, it feels like a loss of power. The natural human and political response to that loss is resistance.
And the most common form of resistance is blame-shifting and scapegoating opposition parties for breaking the two-thirds majority rule in Parliament.
The narrative peddled in public is that “Parliament is not working because of the opposition”. Not: “Parliament is different because the public ended our monopoly.”
This is politically convenient. It protects the ruling party from having to answer for 34 years of unmet promises. It turns a structural problem into a personality problem: “Don’t vote for the disruptors.”
But Namibians are asking a different question: “Why, after 34 years, are we still debating unemployment, informal settlements, housing, national debt, budget deficits, inflation and trade deficits?”
When elephants fight, the grass suffers
There is an African proverb: when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. Right now, while the ruling party and opposition fight over procedure, protocol and political symbols in Parliament, the grass, the Namibian people, are waiting.
Waiting for jobs. Waiting for houses. Waiting for land. Waiting for debt to come down so money can go to clinics and schools instead of interest payments and balancing trade between imports and exports.
If we allow Parliament to remain stuck in storming, then the 2029 election campaign will be a referendum on noise, not results. And that serves no one except those who benefit from the status quo.
The path to norming: Three non-negotiables
To move from storming to norming, both the ruling party and opposition must agree to new ground rules. Norming is when a group agrees on how to work together. For the 8th Parliament, that means three things.
1. The rule of law over party loyalty
The Speaker of the National Assembly must be the Speaker of the Assembly, not the Speaker of the ruling party. Standing Orders must be applied fairly. A political symbol on an opposition shirt or cap cannot be ruled “disorderly” while a liberation song by the ruling party in Parliament is ruled “cultural”.
Either the rule applies to all, or it is not a rule. Without impartiality, the Chair will never command respect.
2. Debate truth with facts
We must move from debating history to debating impact. Every bill should be tested against one threshold: Namibian sovereignty.
Will this law create jobs for our youth? Will this policy reduce our national debt? Will this budget deliver houses and services to informal settlements? Will this trade agreement protect local industry?
Liberation history is important. But it cannot be used to avoid answering policy questions in 2026.
3. Institution over individual ambition
Leadership in Parliament now requires sacrifice. The role of Speaker demands neutrality, like a referee. The role of an MP demands proposing solutions, not just opposing. The role of government demands persuasion, not command.
If leaders choose to protect personal positions or party positions above the institution, then Parliament will remain in storming for five years. The cost will be paid by the electorate.
Trust the vote: The long game
The 2024 vote was a vote for accountability. It was the public saying: “We are breaking the monopoly because the monopoly did not deliver.”
Yes, it looks chaotic now. Yes, bills are slower. But democracy is not measured by the speed of passing laws. It is measured by the quality of those laws and the lives they change.
If we panic and run back to the old culture of automatic majorities and rubber stamps, we will get another 34 years of the same promises. If we push through this storming stage with discipline and respect for the rules, this 8th Parliament can be the most transformative since independence.
The ruling party must accept that Parliament is no longer an extension of the ruling party. The opposition must accept that protest without proposals is not governance. And the public must trust their vote.
The promise of independence was not that one party would rule forever. The promise was that Namibians would be free, housed, educated, healthy and owners of their land.
We are storming today so that we can get to the norm tomorrow, and perform the day after. That is how democracy matures.
