Swapo can reinvent itself at Congress - Melber
Instilling a sense of moral and ethical values in Swapo at the 2022 congress could help the party regain its lost support, says one of its oldest members.
KENYA KAMBOWE
RUNDU
Swapo’s elective congress next year could serve as a perfect platform for the party to reinvigorate itself ahead of the 2024 general elections, says one of its oldest members, Professor Henning Melber.
Speaking on the Namibian Sun’s daily talk show ‘The Evening Review ‘on Monday, Melber said instilling a sense of moral and ethical values in Swapo at the 2022 congress could help the party regain its lost support.
Swapo lost its two-thirds majority in parliament after the 2019 general election and got a hiding in last year’s regional and local authority elections, losing the capital Windhoek and other major urban centres to the opposition.
Fishrot
With the cloud of the fishing quota bribery scandal known as Fishrot hanging over Swapo’s head, Melber argues that the manner in which the party dealt with the scandal undermined its support.
Swapo should therefore not be concerned about maintaining power but rather work on regaining its credibility ahead of the 2024 national elections.
“I think what the congress has to do is to come clean of some of the failures, to be willing to admit that the governance was not as good as they want us to believe and that they need to improve,” Melber explained.
“I think what is required is a serious self-criticism as a first step to regain moral credibility, we are not only talking about politics, we also talking about moral and ethical values,
“The way certain scandals have been treated, they undermine moral and ethical values. It’s not about maintaining power, it’s about regaining credibility to be legitimate into power to be used in the best interest of the people and the best interest of the people is not necessarily the best interest of party officials but if a party delivers it in the best interest of the people it’s also in the best interest of a party,” Melber said.
Four ministers have resigned between 2019 and 2021 because of corruption allegations or criminal convictions.
Factionalism and Geingob legacy
Melber expects that at the 2022 Swapo congress factional politics will be at the forefront.
“Something which is difficult to predict and does not directly have to do with that is the factionalism of the party which will play out at the next congress,” Melber said.
“I am not a prophet and I cannot predict how it will play out but certainly there will be factional battles in the party and then the big question is how President Geingob would like to see his legacy.”
[email protected]
RUNDU
Swapo’s elective congress next year could serve as a perfect platform for the party to reinvigorate itself ahead of the 2024 general elections, says one of its oldest members, Professor Henning Melber.
Speaking on the Namibian Sun’s daily talk show ‘The Evening Review ‘on Monday, Melber said instilling a sense of moral and ethical values in Swapo at the 2022 congress could help the party regain its lost support.
Swapo lost its two-thirds majority in parliament after the 2019 general election and got a hiding in last year’s regional and local authority elections, losing the capital Windhoek and other major urban centres to the opposition.
Fishrot
With the cloud of the fishing quota bribery scandal known as Fishrot hanging over Swapo’s head, Melber argues that the manner in which the party dealt with the scandal undermined its support.
Swapo should therefore not be concerned about maintaining power but rather work on regaining its credibility ahead of the 2024 national elections.
“I think what the congress has to do is to come clean of some of the failures, to be willing to admit that the governance was not as good as they want us to believe and that they need to improve,” Melber explained.
“I think what is required is a serious self-criticism as a first step to regain moral credibility, we are not only talking about politics, we also talking about moral and ethical values,
“The way certain scandals have been treated, they undermine moral and ethical values. It’s not about maintaining power, it’s about regaining credibility to be legitimate into power to be used in the best interest of the people and the best interest of the people is not necessarily the best interest of party officials but if a party delivers it in the best interest of the people it’s also in the best interest of a party,” Melber said.
Four ministers have resigned between 2019 and 2021 because of corruption allegations or criminal convictions.
Factionalism and Geingob legacy
Melber expects that at the 2022 Swapo congress factional politics will be at the forefront.
“Something which is difficult to predict and does not directly have to do with that is the factionalism of the party which will play out at the next congress,” Melber said.
“I am not a prophet and I cannot predict how it will play out but certainly there will be factional battles in the party and then the big question is how President Geingob would like to see his legacy.”
[email protected]
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