Nine opposition parties in Namibia that lost a court case challenging the 2009 national elections will appeal the ruling, their leaders said on Tuesday.
“All nine opposition parties unanimously decided to appeal the ruling in the Supreme Court,” Hidipo Hamutenya, leader of the largest opposition party, the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP), told journalists.
“Judge President Petrus Damaseb in last week’s ruling acknowledged there were irregularities in the 2009 elections and we opposition parties think these irregularities were so compelling and gross in their nature that they must come out,” Hamutenya added.
The parties had argued that two different versions of the voter roll existed in 2009, one with 1,18-million voters and the other with just 822 344 voters. The high court dismissed their challenge, citing a lack of evidence.
The ruling South West Africa People’s Organisation (Swapo), in power since independence in 1990, won more than 75% of the vote in the November 2009 poll, giving President Hifikepunye Pohamba’s party a landslide victory. — Sapa-AFP