Namibians blasé about democracy
Experts believe that the recent Afrobarometer findings indicate that Namibians have grown used to a kind of “competitive authoritarianism” or “authoritarian democracy”, which has dominated Namibia's political system since Swapo obtained a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly and a 95% majority in the National Council.
This is the view of political analyst Dr Henning Melber on the finding of Afrobarometer that while Namibians continue to reject authoritarianism, there's a steady decline in support for democracy and the way in which it is working.
The Afrobarometer also shows that only about one-third of Namibians are 'committed' democrats and that the proportion of Namibians who feel that democracy is functioning to its full extent has diminished from 63% in 2014 to 46% in 2019.
On the other hand, the findings show that although Namibians strongly reject three undemocratic forms of government, many are unconvinced that democracy is always preferable and for a substantial number it does not matter what form of government they have.
According to Melber these findings show that there is no level playing field despite all formal criteria of a plural democracy being in place in Namibia.
He added that the real test would be once Swapo loses its two-thirds majority, or even risks losing an absolute majority.
“That borders on an 'undemocratic democracy', in which checks and balances are blurred. While it sounds like a contradiction, rejecting authoritarianism does not turn you into true a democrat as long as you are willing to endorse such specific forms of a plural society, which in political practice is a one-party dominant state.
“This means that as long as democracy of such nature suits the dominant party, the party can afford to play by democratic rules,” Melber said.
Another political scientist, Professor Andre du Pisani, said the findings show that Namibians still favour democracy over other forms of governments but for them it is no longer performing the way they want it to.
“That comes in the context of a declining economy, drought and growing concerns over public corruption.
“All the alternatives to democracy, like military or one-party rule, are not favoured by Namibians but there is clearly a crisis why people have lost their confidence in the legitimacy of democracy,” he said.
Du Pisani added that what can be seen in the findings is that there is still a very high regard for the political leadership and no one is going to suggest that smaller opposition parties will challenge the legitimacy of the current leadership.
“You can also see that the executive is much more powerful than the legislature and there is despondency that with the levels of public corruption such as the GIPF, Avid and other cases, the executive has not been very quick to respond to take action. People believe essentially what government is telling them, in that sense we have an authoritarian democracy,” he said.
The eighth round of Afrobarometer's State of Democracy in Namibia survey was conducted by Survey Warehouse, a national partner of Afrobarometer in Namibia.
[email protected]
JEMIMA BEUKES
This is the view of political analyst Dr Henning Melber on the finding of Afrobarometer that while Namibians continue to reject authoritarianism, there's a steady decline in support for democracy and the way in which it is working.
The Afrobarometer also shows that only about one-third of Namibians are 'committed' democrats and that the proportion of Namibians who feel that democracy is functioning to its full extent has diminished from 63% in 2014 to 46% in 2019.
On the other hand, the findings show that although Namibians strongly reject three undemocratic forms of government, many are unconvinced that democracy is always preferable and for a substantial number it does not matter what form of government they have.
According to Melber these findings show that there is no level playing field despite all formal criteria of a plural democracy being in place in Namibia.
He added that the real test would be once Swapo loses its two-thirds majority, or even risks losing an absolute majority.
“That borders on an 'undemocratic democracy', in which checks and balances are blurred. While it sounds like a contradiction, rejecting authoritarianism does not turn you into true a democrat as long as you are willing to endorse such specific forms of a plural society, which in political practice is a one-party dominant state.
“This means that as long as democracy of such nature suits the dominant party, the party can afford to play by democratic rules,” Melber said.
Another political scientist, Professor Andre du Pisani, said the findings show that Namibians still favour democracy over other forms of governments but for them it is no longer performing the way they want it to.
“That comes in the context of a declining economy, drought and growing concerns over public corruption.
“All the alternatives to democracy, like military or one-party rule, are not favoured by Namibians but there is clearly a crisis why people have lost their confidence in the legitimacy of democracy,” he said.
Du Pisani added that what can be seen in the findings is that there is still a very high regard for the political leadership and no one is going to suggest that smaller opposition parties will challenge the legitimacy of the current leadership.
“You can also see that the executive is much more powerful than the legislature and there is despondency that with the levels of public corruption such as the GIPF, Avid and other cases, the executive has not been very quick to respond to take action. People believe essentially what government is telling them, in that sense we have an authoritarian democracy,” he said.
The eighth round of Afrobarometer's State of Democracy in Namibia survey was conducted by Survey Warehouse, a national partner of Afrobarometer in Namibia.
[email protected]
JEMIMA BEUKES
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