2009 Namibian general election

Parties

SWAPO

The ruling SWAPO party set a goal of winning all 72 seats in the National Assembly and controlling the NA "until the second coming of Jesus Christ". At the SWAPO party congress in November 2007, the incumbent president Hifikepunye Pohamba was elected president of SWAPO and also received the party's nomination for president in 2009. SWAPO ended up winning 54 seats, a one-seat loss from the third National Assembly.

RDP

This was the first general election for the Rally for Democracy and Progress. The party's nominee for president was Hidipo Hamutenya, a former government minister of SWAPO. The RDP was considered the main opposition to the ruling SWAPO. It gained eight seats in the National Assembly and became the Official Opposition.

NUDO

On 16 October 2009, the National Unity Democratic Organisation (NUDO) was the first political party to officially submit their candidate, Kuaima Riruako, for president.

Observers

The National Society for Human Rights' observer status was withdrawn by the electoral commission, which said it was "not impartial". The organisation said it would approach the High Court to contest the decision; the court later ordered the commission to reinstate the organisation.

Procedure

Though the country planned to buy electronic voting machines from India sometime in 2009, the Electoral Commission assured the National Assembly that they would not be used in the 2009 elections.

Results

President

Hifikepunye Pohamba was re-elected as President of Namibia with 611,241 votes, more than six times as many as Hamutenya, his nearest rival, received.

National Assembly

By region

Delay controversy

Final results were announced on 4 December, the longest delay between voting and the publication of results of any Namibian election (6 days). The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) blamed the delay on a recent amendment to the Electoral Act which had caused "logistical nightmares [they had] never experienced before" and a "cumbersome" verification process.

Accuracy controversy

The accuracy of the results of this election has been questioned, not only by the defeated opposition parties but also by the Namibian Society of Human Rights (NSHR). The voters roll was the main subject of contention, having contained 1 181 835 entries at the time of first publication six weeks prior to the election but shrinking to 820 305 entries within a matter of days.{{cite web |access-date = 17 December 2009

References

References

1. (18 December 2009). "Electoral Act, 1992: Notification of Result of General Election for Members of the National Assembly". [[Government of Namibia]].
2. [https://web.archive.org/web/20100412140319/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jf-SLYoIxKcqD6iMeNdFdGpnxnNQ Namibia president re-elected: official results] AFP, 4 December 2009
3. [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/world/africa/29namibia.html Large Victory Likely for Namibia Governing Party] New York Times, 28 November 2009
4. [http://www.swapoparty.org/vote_swapo_party_vote_pohamba_for_president.html Vote SWAPO Party, Vote Pohamba for President] SWAPO Party official website
5. [https://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Namibia-Pohamba-for-2009-polls-20071202 Namibia: Pohamba for 2009 polls] News 24
6. {{usurped
7. [https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8380802.stm Namibia hit by legal rows ahead of elections]. [[BBC News]]. November 26, 2009.
8. Maletsky, Christof (November 26, 2009). [http://www.namibian.com.na/news/full-story/archive/2009/november/article/poll-ban-heads-to-court/ Poll ban heads to court] {{Webarchive. link. (2009-11-29 . ''[[The Namibian]]''.)
9. [http://www.afriquejet.com/news/africa-news/namibian-high-court-says-rights-body-can-observe-elections-2009112839128.html Namibian High Court says rights body can observe elections] {{Webarchive. link. (2009-12-01 . Afrique en ligne. November 27, 2009.)
10. [http://www.namibian.com.na/news-articles/national/full-story/archive/2009/march/article/local-regional-council-elections-shifted-to-2010/ Local, regional council elections shifted to 2010] {{Webarchive. link. (2009-09-23 . ''[[The Namibian]]'', 13 March 2009)
11. (6 December 2009). "Incumbent wins big in Namibian presidential vote".
12. "Your Guide to the Results. Facts and Figures", ''[[The Namibian]]'', 25 November 2014, p2
13. Nyanagove, Patience. (3 December 2009). "Expect full election results tomorrow – ECN". Informanté.
14. (4 December 2009). "Namibia president re-elected: official results". AFP.