Namibia extends voting in several areas until Saturday after elections start on Wednesday

The electoral commission points to high participation and various problems and incidents as reasons behind the partial extension

Nov 29. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Electoral Commission of Namibia (CEN) has announced a new two-day extension of voting in Wednesday’s general elections, authorizing the opening of polling stations until Saturday night, amid problems attributed to high participation and operational problems. .

The organization has indicated in a statement published on its account on the social network Facebook that the decision has been adopted for “some affected areas” and within the framework of its “responsibility” in guaranteeing that “all registered voters have the opportunity to exercise their right to vote.

Thus, he detailed that he has presented his request to the President of Namibia, Nangolo Mbumba, to “allow the continuation of the elections in specific polling stations from Friday to Saturday”, with opening hours between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. local).

The president of the organization, Elsie Nghikembua, applauded the “peaceful behavior” of the population during the vote, which “reflects the democratic spirit contemplated in the Constitution”, before acknowledging that several polling stations opened late due to “small problems”, which They have subsequently accumulated.

“While the vote was underway, problems arose and the commission dedicated itself to resolving them to ensure that all Namibians who registered had the opportunity to vote,” he explained, while detailing that these incidents included problems due to overheating of the tablets used for voting, complaints from the population about the slowness and shortage of ballots.

In this sense, he has pointed out that “the polling stations that were not affected by the shortage of ballots received permission to start the recount after the closure” and has confirmed that, following complaints “from different political parties” about the incidents , has chosen to extend the vote for two days.

“We again ask the population to maintain peace and calm. The commission will inform the public frequently to ensure that we are all aware of events as they develop,” Nghikembua concluded, amid protests over part of several opposition parties and candidates for these problems.

In fact, the opposition McHenry Venaani, one of the candidates for the Presidency of Namibia, has criticized that the CEN did not consult the parties before adopting the decision and has argued that “the fiasco with the ballots has influenced many voters, who have returned to their homes,” according to the newspaper ‘The Namibian’.

“Extending (the vote) in some regions and not in the entire country is a farce,” he lamented, before delving into the fact that there are “many people” who were not able to vote in other areas of the country and charged against the electoral commission for giving the possibility of voting only for residents of the areas affected by the measure.

“What they are doing is unfair. They must consult the political parties to resolve the crisis,” said Venaani, who has also criticized the fact that part of the results have been published while there are still people going to the polling stations to exercise their right to vote. vote.

THE GOVERNMENT PARTY SEEKS TO EXTEND ITS DOMAIN

The elections could result in the first female president in the history of the African country, given that the main favorite is the current vice president, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, candidate of the party that has led the country since its independence in 1990, the African People’s Organization of the Southwest (SWAPO).

Thus, SWAPO aspires in this way to prolong its mandate in Namibia, which has already spanned more than three decades, in elections that come amid the continued decline in its popularity among the population due to the economic crisis, unemployment and accusations of corruption.

The presidential elections, which are held alongside the legislative elections – in which 96 of the 140 members of the National Assembly are elected through multiple constituencies, while another eight are appointed directly by the president – come with the economic crisis in the focus of popular concerns.

In this way, SWAPO will face the growing discontent of the population with the situation at the polls, given that they blame the party for the lack of solutions to this structural situation after 34 years of rule, amidst increasing criticism in southern Africa. to the parties that materialized independence for the current problems.

The situation has already been reflected in the fact that the African National Congress (ANC) lost its historic absolute majority in South Africa in the May elections and the defeat in October of the governing Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) after nearly six decades. in power, as well as tensions in Mozambique following the announcement of the victory of the candidate of the governmental Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo), followed by allegations of fraud.