Opposition gears up for polls
Opposition gears up for polls

Opposition gears up for polls

Jemima Beukes
Opposition parties are already mobilising, in the hope of breaking Swapo's two-thirds majority at the polls later this year.

The Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) says it plans to launch its 'take Namibians to the polls' strategy in the coming days.

PDM president McHenry Venaani said yesterday his party's strategy to ensure that frustrated Namibians vote in this year's presidential and National Assembly elections is already in full swing.

He said consultative meetings have already taken place in two regions with the party's regional coordinators.

“We are waiting for the programme from the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN),” said Venaani.

Swanu is likely to lean once more on the power of its socialism ideology and its 50-year-old manifesto.

Swanu secretary-general Dr Tangeni Iijambo said Swanu had always used its socialist manifesto to attract voters.

“We are socialist and we actually see there is something wrong, the way people are manipulated and lied to. For us, we believe socialism is the ideology that will rescue the country,” he said.

United People's Movement (UPM) vice-president Jan van Wyk said his party was on a quest to find all the unregistered voters in its constituencies.

The party also has a 'don't stay away' strategy with which it plans to motivate passive and frustrated Namibians who plan to stay away from the polls.

“We are telling them to go and vote; even if they do not vote for the UPM, they must go and vote for any other opposition party. We must work hard to break Swapo's two-thirds majority,” he said.

The UPM's official mobilisation activities will kick off next month, Van Wyk said.

Swapo secretary-general Sofia Shaningwa said the party had programmes in place, but would announce them in due course.



Voter apathy

Voter apathy has been a serious problem in the past and many registered voters did not cast their ballots in previous elections.

In 2015 fewer than 380 000 voters made it to the polls for the regional and local authority elections, with the turnout dropping by 2%, when compared to 2010.

In fact, only 36% of the 1 267 335 registered voters, excluding the 215 964 voters from 26 uncontested constituencies, made it to the polls in 2015.

Political commentator Frederico Links said while there was lot of talk about voter apathy during previous elections, the stay-away vote was not significant at all.

He added that social media rants created the impression that Namibians have lost hope and would rather stay away, which is a problem.

“If we talk about a proportion of 15% of people on social media who say they will not go and vote; those people are saying it and saying it publicly, and this is probably an indication that they feel their vote is wasted,” he added.

JEMIMA BEUKES

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Namibian Sun 2024-03-29

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Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 233.12/OZ UP +1.93% | Copper US$ 3.99/lb UP +0.12% | Zinc US$ 2 455.50/T UP 0% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 87.65/BBP UP +1.46% | Platinum US$ 908.62/OZ UP +1.53% Sport results: Weather: Katima Mulilo: 19° | 36° Rundu: 19° | 29° Eenhana: 19° | 29° Oshakati: 21° | 30° Ruacana: 20° | 33° Tsumeb: 19° | 29° Otjiwarongo: 16° | 29° Omaruru: 19° | 32° Windhoek: 17° | 29° Gobabis: 17° | 30° Henties Bay: 16° | 20° Wind speed: 22km/h, Wind direction: S, Low tide: 11:22, High tide: 05:24, Low Tide: 23:26, High tide: 17:46 Swakopmund: 16° | 17° Wind speed: 24km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 11:20, High tide: 05:22, Low Tide: 23:24, High tide: 17:44 Walvis Bay: 16° | 22° Wind speed: 27km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 11:20, High tide: 05:21, Low Tide: 23:24, High tide: 17:43 Rehoboth: 19° | 30° Mariental: 23° | 34° Keetmanshoop: 24° | 35° Aranos: 22° | 33° Lüderitz: 15° | 28° Ariamsvlei: 24° | 35° Oranjemund: 14° | 25° Luanda: 27° | 28° Gaborone: 20° | 32° Lubumbashi: 17° | 26° Mbabane: 16° | 21° Maseru: 11° | 29° Antananarivo: 16° | 27° Lilongwe: 17° | 27° Maputo: 20° | 28° Windhoek: 17° | 29° Cape Town: 17° | 28° Durban: 20° | 24° Johannesburg: 16° | 24° Dar es Salaam: 26° | 32° Lusaka: 20° | 30° Harare: 16° | 29° Economic Indicators: Currency: GBP to NAD 23.82 | EUR to NAD 20.37 | CNY to NAD 2.62 | USD to NAD 18.91 | DZD to NAD 0.14 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.33 | EGP to NAD 0.39 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.74 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.77 | RUB to NAD 0.2 | INR to NAD 0.23 | USD to DZD 134.17 | USD to AOA 832.63 | USD to BWP 13.71 | USD to EGP 47.35 | USD to KES 130.98 | USD to NGN 1415.13 | USD to ZAR 18.92 | USD to ZMW 25.01 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index 74536 Up +0.85% | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1528.69 Up +0.84% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 12986.94 Up +0.04% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 27559.35 Down -2.36% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 233.12/OZ UP +1.93% | Copper US$ 3.99/lb UP +0.12% | Zinc US$ 2 455.50/T UP 0% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 87.65/BBP UP +1.46% | Platinum US$ 908.62/OZ UP +1.53%