Top dog mentality kills coalition talks

Some smaller opposition parties have confirmed that ongoing talks to form a broad-based coalition ahead of the 2019 elections, in order to challenge Swapo hegemony, have deadlocked around the issue of Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) leader McHenry Venaani being named the overall leader of the grouping.

PDM chief negotiator Vipuakuje Mukarukua denied this strongly, though, saying he never suggested Venaani as leader.

“These negotiations are confidential so I cannot divulge anything, but what I can say is that at no point have I said that Venaani must lead. At no point did PDM instruct me to say this. If he leads then it must be a natural progression and not something that is imposed,” he said.

Following a visit to Kenya to learn about coalition politics from that country's politicians, a group of Namibian opposition parties established a technical working committee to discuss and investigate the advantages and disadvantages of coalitions.

Mike Kavekotora of the Rally for Progress and Democracy (RDP) said coalition formation is the right thing to do and opposition parties that are so fragmented and thinly spread won't work.

According to him, the proposed coalition talks that kicked off in 2015 fell flat because smaller parties felt bullied by bigger parties accusing them of playing “big brother” politics.

He added that it was eventually established that there are no significant ideological differences between the various parties, with the exception with Swanu which is a socialist party.

The committee discussed the issue of the leader of the opposition, and agreed that all political parties would retain their structure, but an umbrella body with its own leadership structure would be in place.

“At one meeting it came to light that the PDM had already almost made up their mind, that if such a thing should happen then the leader of the coalition would have to be the leader of PDM. Some of us were not quite comfortable with that. It could have been that PDM could be the leader, but not brought in as a condition. It had to be discussed collaboratively and look at the benefits and disadvantages of such a move. Unfortunately that put some of our people off,” he said.

Subsequently the discussion died a natural death.

The newly elected secretary-general (SG) of the National Unity Democratic Organisation (Nudo), Joseph Kauandenge, who represented his party on the technical working committee, also blamed PDM of dictating to other opposition parties.

“Because apparently he (Venaani) is the leader of the official opposition and should dictate, but if you come to a coalition agreement you set aside your titles and you discuss openly to determine who is better suited to become the leader of the coalition,” he said.

According to Kauandenge a heated discussion eventually ensued on who deserved to be the leader of coalition party.

Kauandenge's predecessor, Meundju Jahanika, who insists he is still in that position, said his party sent two party members to Kenya to learn about coalition politics.

“Some of us in fact wanted to look at cooperation where we could give each other constituencies and one presidential candidate supported by all involved parties,” he said.

Jahanika emphasised that a potential merger was never on the cards.



It's a pity

Kavekotora said Namibian opposition parties were haunted by power struggles and belly politics.

“The question of who is going to be number one always comes up. To me this is nonsense. I would rather want to be number 10 of 500 000 people than to be number one of ten. To me politics is not about me as a leader but the possible services I can deliver,” he said.

According to Kavekotora there is a serious need for a coalition and that the door is not completely closed on the idea.

Kauandenge believes the ineffectiveness of opposition parties to sell ideas to the youth that are not linked to the ruling party's liberation credentials, holds them back.

“We need the charisma of the Malemas of South Africa. You cannot get young people to a political party if your leader does not appeal to the youth vote,” he said.



Swapo “sacred cow”

Swanu president Tangeni Iijambo, a former People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) fighter, said Swapo had instilled a terrible fear in the electorate.

According to him, the systematic ignorance instilled in Namibians by colonial rule is still visible today, 28 years after independence.

“We hear Swapo leaders saying it is cold outside Swapo. It is unfortunate that Namibians don't vote on policies and issues. Even an entity that makes how many mistakes is a sacred cow to them,” he said.

Kavekotorua said Swapo had mastered a system of reward and punishment, which was what kept it in power.

“Swapo is using two things successfully and consistently. Swapo rewards people to remain loyal to them. Either properly or fraudulently, it doesn't really matter. Swapo punishes people if they misbehave. When you join another party you misbehave. They punish you economically, you don't get tenders, employment or any assistance apart from statutory benefits,” he argued.







Crossroads



Most Namibian opposition parties now find themselves at a crossroads, battling persistent leadership squabbles that may see them lose their grip on their representation in parliament.



Nudo, a relatively stable political party, finds itself in a leadership storm after its third elective congress recently ended in chaos when one group declared themselves the legal leadership of the party.



The RDP too, is faced with a serious leadership tussle that has landed in court.



Kavekotorua said the party's central committee (CC) had decided to hold its convention in November this year. The current leadership's term will come to an end in November.



“There is a pending case in court currently about our president, I really hope it will come to a close as soon as possible. If it does not, then it will die a natural death at the convention anyway because we will elect new party leaders,” he said.







Status quo



The ruling party Swapo currently has 101 seats in parliament; PDM, the official opposition, has six seats; followed by the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) and United Democratic Front (UDF), both with three seats.



The All People's Party (APP), National Unity Democratic Organisation (Nudo) and the Workers' Revolutionary Party (WRP) each has two seats in parliament while the Republican Party (RP), South West Africa National Union (Swanu) and United People's Movement have only one seat each.

JEMIMA BEUKES