Namibia's Democracy

Namibia has had two presidents since independence, Sam Nujoma and Hifikepunye Pohamba, from SWAPO, the party that led the liberation war against the South Africa colonizers. SWAPO has dominated every election since the one held 1989, immediately preceding independence in 1990.

Opposition parties have been weak. In parliament, they have limit chance to introduce their own policies. Initially, the DTA was the official opposition. Its prospects for gaining in popularity were hindered by its previous ties to apartheid South Africa. The CoD then became the main challenger to SWAPO. Its presidential candidate, Ben Ulenga, came in a distant second in the 1999 and 2004 elections. The CoD became the official opposition in the wake of the 2004 parliamentary elections. It's been hampered by the fact that it was largely a party of personalities.

In 2004, SWAPO needed to replace Nujoma, who is considered the father of the nation. Pohamba was challenged by Nujoma's Foreign Minister, Hidipo Hamutenya. Hamutenya, the son of one of SWAPO's founders, left the party in 2007 and began his own party, the RDP. Hamutenya finished in a distant second in the 2009 presidential elections.

Namibia has an interesting parliamentary system. The electorate does not vote for particular candidates. Instead they vote for a party. The vote is then broken down proportionately. MPs are selected from party lists based on the number of votes each party receives. MPs are accountable to the party as opposed to a constituency. Namibia has the law of largest remainder, where the last few seats are awarded to the parties with the largest remainder of votes after votes have been divided proportionately. This system favors smaller parties as there is no minimum amount of votes in order to gain a seat in parliament.

Namibia's democracy has a few defining qualities. SWAPO dominates the contests. Numerous political parties, most are personality-based, thin any potential opposition SWAPO may face. Namibian elections are free of violence beyond the rare incident. However, dissent is often chastised harshly, though it exists. Overall, Namibia elections are generally regarded as free and fair.