Henning Melber
After the horror of the Nazi regime and witnessing the Soviet dictatorship under Stalin, the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill declared in 1947:
‘Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise.
Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…’
Namibian Fight for Democracy
Namibians suffered under white minority rule until 1990. There was no democracy.
Only whites were entitled to vote for a local administration. The country was governed by South Africa like a province. The anti-colonial liberation struggle was fighting for national sovereignty under a democratically elected government. Independence was proclaimed on 21 March 1990. Many among the voters have no memory of this.
As so-called born free they were raised in a democratic society, where every citizen from the age of 18 years can vote in regular free and fair elections every five years.
End of November all those who are eligible to vote and have registered with Namibia’s Electoral Commission are entitled to decide who as from 21 March 2025 will represent the people in the National Assembly, and who will be sworn in as the country’s next President.
Namibia’s Electoral System
Most democracies face a decline of voter participation. In many countries the democratically elected office bearers are only supported by the votes of a minority.
The electoral system in the United Kingdom brought a landslide victory to the Labour Party with only about one third of the votes that were cast. In the USA Donald Trump was elected as President despite Hilary Clinton having received far more votes.
This is a result of the electoral system in these countries. Namibia’s electoral system, in contrast, is a strictly proportional one.
Every vote for a party list counts the same. With less than one percent of the votes, the candidate on top of the party list will be elected to represent his/her party in parliament. Similarly, the parallel elections for a president will count every vote for a candidate.
The one with the most votes will be the elected president. This system gives the voters the maximum power. Your vote counts. This does of course not mean, that your preferred party or presidential candidate will be elected by the majority to govern.
Since all votes are as valid as yours, the majority decides.
But if you do not vote, you have decided not to participate in electing those who will represent the citizens of this country.
The office of the president has in Namibia far reaching executive powers.
It is a decisive position when it comes to policy and governance.
The lawmakers in the National Assembly are tasked to control policy.
By drafting laws, they create the legal framework of governance.
This should implement and protect constitutional principles.
