A Namibian opposition party said on Thursday it has asked a court to order a rerun of last year’s parliamentary elections, just one month after a ballot recount confirmed the victory of the ruling Swapo party.
”This time we have asked for new elections because we are dissatisfied with the results of the recount last month,” said Henk Mudge, president of the Republican Party.
”The way in which the recount was conducted brought new evidence and we are very confident that the evidence collected will make this a strong case”, Mudge told a news conference.
Opposition parties last month won a court ruling ordering a recount of the November 15-16 elections in the Southern African country after they complained of widespread irregularities.
The recount gave the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) about 1 000 extra votes but that was not enough to make a difference to their representation in Parliament.
The Republican Party filed the application for an elections rerun to the Windhoek High Court last week and other opposition parties said they were ready to join in the court challenge.
”The Congress of Democrats (CoD) party will throw its weight behind this new initiative”, said CoD secretary general Kala Gertze ”and the two smaller parties Swanu (South West Africa National Union) and Namibia Movement for Democratic Change (NMDC) said they will also join as additional applicants”.
The ruling South West Africa People’s Organisation (Swapo) won 75,1% of the vote in the parliamentary elections, its third victory since Namibia’s independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990. – Sapa-AFP