Nation awaits 'realist' Swapo manifesto
President Hage Geingob is expected to launch the Swapo manifesto tomorrow in which he will reveal the ruling party's plans for the next five years.
With the ruling party Swapo scheduled to launch its election manifesto tomorrow at Outapi, local analysts and researchers believe the party has largely not kept promises contained in its last such document.
Commentators observed that there was a huge disconnect between implementation and promises made prior to the 2014 general elections – which included more jobs.
Unemployment has increased from 28% in 2014 to a conservative 33% currently.
Youth unemployment stands at 46.1%, according to the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA).
President Hage Geingob is expected to launch the Swapo manifesto tomorrow in which he will reveal the ruling party's plans for the next five years, if its mandate is renewed in the November 27 general election.
Political commentators Frederico Links and Ndumba Kamwanyah both argue that Swapo - which admitted even this week that it is presiding over a deteriorating economy – must present an innovative, game-changing and viable manifesto.
Links is of the opinion that with the current state of the economy, Swapo should not attempt to repeat the promises it made during previous election manifestos.
“The thing is that they haven't actually dealt with the bread and butter issues such as the healthcare, the housing, unemployment which is getting worse,” Links said.
“The big issue is fixing the economy, what will they propose to fix the economy going forward and encouraging investment and how far are they prepared to go. You made that promise in 2014, you can't make that same promise again,” he said.
“What we experience is a total deterioration of the economy and job prospects, so what are you going to say differently? How are you going to pitch this differently if you presided over this decline, should the people now believe you that we are going to grow the economy when clearly you haven't been able to come up with the plans?”
Concurring with Links, Ndumba said that Swapo, which has enjoyed power since the country gained its independence 29 years ago, should not imitate the notion of enticing the electorate with promises which have not been fulfilled over the years.
The party should present vibrant plans which speak to addressing the needs of the Namibian nation.
“Swapo should not be business as usual; it should address the concrete issues the Namibian people are faced with. I think Swapo should up their game because if they are going to say things that they said since independence it does not work well for a ruling party to repeat things they have already said and are supposed to address,” he added.
“So something new, in terms of solving the challenges we are faced with today, something innovative, and it should not be business as usual.”
Passive electorate
The two commentators have also expressed their concerns on the passiveness of the electorate whom they say is not holding the Swapo-led government accountable when their needs and demands are not met.
Links argues that government will be on their A-game if the electorate becomes more radical and demands for effective service delivery saying that the issue lies with the passive electorate and not the government nor the politicians, and that they too should be held accountable for the state of the economy.
“We have an issue with passivity, a passive electorate,” he said.
“The electorate is not asking or demanding better. I am not seeing marches in the streets where people are demanding better service delivery, better governance. Where is the electorate and why are they demanding better?
“The problem is neither the government nor the politicians, the problem is the people.”
Links also challenged the electorate to question things like the over 80% implementation score card which was presented during the 2017 Swapo Party elective congress, saying the challenges on the ground contradict the scorecard.
[email protected]
KENYA KAMBOWE
Commentators observed that there was a huge disconnect between implementation and promises made prior to the 2014 general elections – which included more jobs.
Unemployment has increased from 28% in 2014 to a conservative 33% currently.
Youth unemployment stands at 46.1%, according to the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA).
President Hage Geingob is expected to launch the Swapo manifesto tomorrow in which he will reveal the ruling party's plans for the next five years, if its mandate is renewed in the November 27 general election.
Political commentators Frederico Links and Ndumba Kamwanyah both argue that Swapo - which admitted even this week that it is presiding over a deteriorating economy – must present an innovative, game-changing and viable manifesto.
Links is of the opinion that with the current state of the economy, Swapo should not attempt to repeat the promises it made during previous election manifestos.
“The thing is that they haven't actually dealt with the bread and butter issues such as the healthcare, the housing, unemployment which is getting worse,” Links said.
“The big issue is fixing the economy, what will they propose to fix the economy going forward and encouraging investment and how far are they prepared to go. You made that promise in 2014, you can't make that same promise again,” he said.
“What we experience is a total deterioration of the economy and job prospects, so what are you going to say differently? How are you going to pitch this differently if you presided over this decline, should the people now believe you that we are going to grow the economy when clearly you haven't been able to come up with the plans?”
Concurring with Links, Ndumba said that Swapo, which has enjoyed power since the country gained its independence 29 years ago, should not imitate the notion of enticing the electorate with promises which have not been fulfilled over the years.
The party should present vibrant plans which speak to addressing the needs of the Namibian nation.
“Swapo should not be business as usual; it should address the concrete issues the Namibian people are faced with. I think Swapo should up their game because if they are going to say things that they said since independence it does not work well for a ruling party to repeat things they have already said and are supposed to address,” he added.
“So something new, in terms of solving the challenges we are faced with today, something innovative, and it should not be business as usual.”
Passive electorate
The two commentators have also expressed their concerns on the passiveness of the electorate whom they say is not holding the Swapo-led government accountable when their needs and demands are not met.
Links argues that government will be on their A-game if the electorate becomes more radical and demands for effective service delivery saying that the issue lies with the passive electorate and not the government nor the politicians, and that they too should be held accountable for the state of the economy.
“We have an issue with passivity, a passive electorate,” he said.
“The electorate is not asking or demanding better. I am not seeing marches in the streets where people are demanding better service delivery, better governance. Where is the electorate and why are they demanding better?
“The problem is neither the government nor the politicians, the problem is the people.”
Links also challenged the electorate to question things like the over 80% implementation score card which was presented during the 2017 Swapo Party elective congress, saying the challenges on the ground contradict the scorecard.
[email protected]
KENYA KAMBOWE
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