President Sam Nujoma called on Namibians to vote on Monday as he cast his ballot on the first day of elections in the Southern African country that are set to hand victory to the veteran leader’s hand-picked successor.
Nujoma (75) is stepping down in March after 14 years in power. He is expected to be succeeded by Lands Minister Hifikepunye Pohamba (69), who is widely tipped to win the presidential election.
Smiling broadly, Nujoma voted at a downtown polling station off capital city Windhoek’s Independence Avenue just after polls opened at 7am.
”I’m calling on all Namibian citizens to line up in peace and exercise their democratic rights to ensure that we continue with peace, stability and economic development,” Nujoma told reporters outside the voting station.
This is ”irrespective of colour and status in society”, said Nujoma, wearing a dark green suit.
Over the next two days, voters will be choosing a president and representatives to the 72-seat National Assembly in the country of 1,82-million people.
The ruling South West Africa People’s Organisation (Swapo) party is expected to win a strong majority in Parliament.
Just more than 977 000 voters are to choose between seven presidential candidates and nine political parties at 1 168 polling stations around the country.
Nujoma and Pohamba are founding members of Swapo, which led an armed struggle against apartheid South African rule for more than three decades.
Namibia, formerly called South West Africa, won independence in 1990 and Nujoma became its first president.
The elections, the third since independence, are seen as a milestone with the departure of Nujoma, who has been a pivotal figure in Namibian politics for five decades, although he will retain the powerful post of Swapo party president until 2007.
Asked how he felt to be voting for his successor, Nujoma said ”it’s normal in democratic elections”.
In Katutura township, north of Windhoek, long queues of voters were forming, while elections officials battled to sort out a technical glitch with its new computerised voting system, used in about 300 polling stations mainly around the capital.
”Nonetheless, the manual checking of voters continued,” presiding officer Sam Hambira said.
Outside, 58-year-old Margaret Majunda, wearing a leopard-print dress and pointy Herero headdress, waited patiently to cast her vote.
”I don’t feel good because Nujoma is leaving. This man has been governing the country for a considerable time,” she said.
”This man [Pohamba] is a new man. I don’t know how he is going to do,” she said.
Johannes Castanheir (25) said he hopes the newly elected government will help him get a job in the country where unemployment stands between 30% and 40%.
Regarded by some critics as a stooge of Nujoma, Pohamba has pledged to continue governing the country in the same way as his predecessor.
As lands minister, Pohamba has moved toward the expropriation of property from white commercial farmers, although no land has been seized so far and he has reassured farm owners that fair compensation will be paid.
Namibia’s weak opposition parties are not expecting any upsets, but they are hoping to strengthen their representation in the National Assembly.
The current official opposition Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA) and newcomer Congress of Democrats (CoD) are vying for the title of official opposition.
The DTA and the CoD scored seven seats each in the National Assembly in 1999, after which the DTA formed a coalition with a minor party, giving it nine.
Results are expected to be announced later in the week. — Sapa-AFP