Where is the opposition ... when Swapo is fighting itself?

AN ANALYSIS of the state of the political opposition in Namibia has shown that the political parties are either collapsing or have lost direction as most of them continue to lose membership and seats in the National Assembly.

Several opposition leaders have since called for the unification of political parties to improve competence. Local political analyst Fanuel Kaapama recently said people are neither attracted nor convinced by the political dialogue of the opposition in the country. He said there is a lack of interaction between party leaders and the electorate, which somehow kills the party because there is “an impression that it only takes place during elections”. While Swapo gained momentum from its history and involvement in the liberation struggle, most of the opposition parties in Namibia failed to take off. There are currently 16 registered political parties with the Electoral Commission of Namibia. Some of them were formed before independence, with others coming after independence. Most of the opposition parties are on the verge of collapsing, with their founders and members reportedly rejoining the ruling party in droves. Since 2000, the political opposition has either failed to gain seats in the National Assembly, or have only won less than five seats. A glance at the share of seats in the National Assembly from the years 2000 to 2009 shows that out of the 72 members of the National Assembly, the combined opposition only managed to get 17 seats, while Swapo maintained 54 to 55 seats.