Substance over spectacle
Parliamentary proceedings in Namibia these days have become material for an unending public spectacle that inevitably ends up as video clips and memes on social media.
With terms like “idiot”, “disgraced demoted dog” and others being bandied about in the supposed hallowed halls of parliament, it is becoming increasingly difficult to understand how this all fits into adequately representing voters who put their trust in parties last year.
Namibians who follow the South African parliament are used to these types of shenanigans, which come straight out of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and Julius Malema playbook. Malema and his fellow EFF MPs were cheered on when they perpetually confronted and insulted then president Jacob Zuma, who stands accused of being the architect of a massive state capture project in the neighbouring country.
However, in the Namibian context, we find it difficult to understand what the personalisation of our politics, especially in the National Assembly, helps when it comes to the lives of ordinary Namibians. Personal enmity, which is clearly on display these days in Namibia's parliament, draws battle lines between those who defend and those antagonised by verbal attacks and insults.
If, on the one hand, the opposition are saying that the head of state has anger issues, in the same vein, they are painting themselves into a corner where it will be easy to howl them down as reactionary, and driven by personalised anger.
With terms like “idiot”, “disgraced demoted dog” and others being bandied about in the supposed hallowed halls of parliament, it is becoming increasingly difficult to understand how this all fits into adequately representing voters who put their trust in parties last year.
Namibians who follow the South African parliament are used to these types of shenanigans, which come straight out of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and Julius Malema playbook. Malema and his fellow EFF MPs were cheered on when they perpetually confronted and insulted then president Jacob Zuma, who stands accused of being the architect of a massive state capture project in the neighbouring country.
However, in the Namibian context, we find it difficult to understand what the personalisation of our politics, especially in the National Assembly, helps when it comes to the lives of ordinary Namibians. Personal enmity, which is clearly on display these days in Namibia's parliament, draws battle lines between those who defend and those antagonised by verbal attacks and insults.
If, on the one hand, the opposition are saying that the head of state has anger issues, in the same vein, they are painting themselves into a corner where it will be easy to howl them down as reactionary, and driven by personalised anger.
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Namibian Sun
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