Itula won’t stand for parliament seat in 2024
Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) president Dr Panduleni Itula says he will only stand for the presidential election in 2024, but will not feature on his party’s parliamentary list.
The practice of standing for both positions is irregular, he said.
Itula made the comments on the The Evening Review last night, and explained that standing for both positions flies in the face of Namibia’s laws.
His approach marks a stark departure from other parties whose presidents have stood for the presidency but end up in the National Assembly.
“We’ve got a problem with the equality principle of our constitution. People must be treated equal. If you are to contest as I did, as an independent candidate, and somebody else is representing a political party, we should be treated equal,” he said.
He explained that the constitution makes it very clear that an individual can only be part of either the executive, the judiciary or the legislation “because of the principle of separation of powers”.
Not possible
“When I did not succeed... in becoming the president of this beautiful country, I did not have the option of going to parliament. Why should anybody else have the option of going to parliament?
“In this country, in terms of Article 1.3 of the constitution, we have separation of powers. You cannot seek to go into the executive and seek to become a legislator and seek also to be a part of the judiciary. It’s not possible.
“In fact, our constitution makes provision that, if we get a vice-president taken from parliament, that vice-president loses that seat,” he said.
Cabinet ministers are equally not allowed to be members of parliament, but only act in an ex-officio position, Itula explained.
He garnered 30% of the vote in the 2019 polls for the presidency when he ran as an independent candidate, making him the first person in Namibia ever to do so.
The practice of standing for both positions is irregular, he said.
Itula made the comments on the The Evening Review last night, and explained that standing for both positions flies in the face of Namibia’s laws.
His approach marks a stark departure from other parties whose presidents have stood for the presidency but end up in the National Assembly.
“We’ve got a problem with the equality principle of our constitution. People must be treated equal. If you are to contest as I did, as an independent candidate, and somebody else is representing a political party, we should be treated equal,” he said.
He explained that the constitution makes it very clear that an individual can only be part of either the executive, the judiciary or the legislation “because of the principle of separation of powers”.
Not possible
“When I did not succeed... in becoming the president of this beautiful country, I did not have the option of going to parliament. Why should anybody else have the option of going to parliament?
“In this country, in terms of Article 1.3 of the constitution, we have separation of powers. You cannot seek to go into the executive and seek to become a legislator and seek also to be a part of the judiciary. It’s not possible.
“In fact, our constitution makes provision that, if we get a vice-president taken from parliament, that vice-president loses that seat,” he said.
Cabinet ministers are equally not allowed to be members of parliament, but only act in an ex-officio position, Itula explained.
He garnered 30% of the vote in the 2019 polls for the presidency when he ran as an independent candidate, making him the first person in Namibia ever to do so.
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Namibian Sun
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