EDITORIAL: Swapo must explain McLeod-Katjirua remarks
As deputy secretary general of Swapo between 2012 and 2017, Khomas governor Laura McLeod-Katjirua stood a realistic chance to become Namibia’s president. It sounds far-fetched, but technically, it was possible.
According to Swapo’s succession policy, if the party’s head of state becomes vacant for one reason or another, the party would have been obliged to field an interim leader from its top-four ‘structure’ to fill the void. For example, if President Hifikepunye Pohamba had resigned as head of state at the time and both Hage Geingob and Nangolo Mbumba (party vice-president and secretary general, respectively) declined to ascend to that position, McLeod-Katjirua would have been next in line.
But the remarks she made over the weekend at a party event, among them that she would remove democracy if she were in a position to do so, are highly disturbing. She also remarked that if another party wins the 2024 election, she will ‘go back into exile’, as if threatening another war to liberate herself from the rule of another entity.
Legendary Austrian psychologist Sigmund Freud suggested that remarks like these could offer insight into an individual's subconscious views, revealed through an unintentional slip of the tongue. It’s like a man accidentally blurting out the name of their ex-girlfriend in front of their new partner.
Therefore, do McLeod-Katjirua's remarks offer a potentially useful insight into the psyche and body politic of Swapo? Are these remarks strictly her personal feelings, or are they reflective of the general attitude of the party?
According to Swapo’s succession policy, if the party’s head of state becomes vacant for one reason or another, the party would have been obliged to field an interim leader from its top-four ‘structure’ to fill the void. For example, if President Hifikepunye Pohamba had resigned as head of state at the time and both Hage Geingob and Nangolo Mbumba (party vice-president and secretary general, respectively) declined to ascend to that position, McLeod-Katjirua would have been next in line.
But the remarks she made over the weekend at a party event, among them that she would remove democracy if she were in a position to do so, are highly disturbing. She also remarked that if another party wins the 2024 election, she will ‘go back into exile’, as if threatening another war to liberate herself from the rule of another entity.
Legendary Austrian psychologist Sigmund Freud suggested that remarks like these could offer insight into an individual's subconscious views, revealed through an unintentional slip of the tongue. It’s like a man accidentally blurting out the name of their ex-girlfriend in front of their new partner.
Therefore, do McLeod-Katjirua's remarks offer a potentially useful insight into the psyche and body politic of Swapo? Are these remarks strictly her personal feelings, or are they reflective of the general attitude of the party?
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