No capital gains for Swapo

SWAPO remains in control of Windhoek despite the the ruling party losing one seat to opposition parties in Friday’s Local Authority elections.

The Electoral Commission of Namibia announced late on Sunday that Swapo had scored 10 seats, down from the 11 they secured in the 1998 elections. The Congress of Democrats (CoD), the DTA, Republican Party, National Democratic Unity Organisation (Nudo) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) took one seat each.The “people’s representatives” Ada/Gui, making its debut, and a residents’ group, the Local Community Association (LCA), which previously had one seat, were left empty-handed.Swapo collected 28 680 of the 45 760 votes cast in a low turnout, and saw the overall voting pattern for the party drop from 69,1 per cent to 62,6 per cent.A staggering 85 068 of the capital’s 130 828 registered voters shunned the ballot box.This represents a 75 per cent stayaway.There was also a high number of spoiled votes: 689.The biggest losers in Windhoek were the DTA and the LCA.The DTA’s votes dropped from 17,8 per cent to 5,8 per cent, while the LCA collected 2,8 per cent compared to 7,2 per cent in the last elections.Newcomers to the City of Windhoek are the CoD, RP, Nudo and the UDF.Of parties that have taken part in previous Local Authority elections, the UDF was the only one to record an increase in Windhoek – up from 2,93 per cent to 3,77 per cent.Neither the CoD nor Nudo have taken part in local elections before.The Namibian was unable to establish the reasons behind the high stayaway rate, although some voters described the process as “very slow”.However, while this might have played a part, it is unlikely that it was the main factor.Some polling stations visited on Friday, such as the Wanaheda Police Station and the Women Centre in Okuryangava, were open until after 23h00 on Friday evening as polling officers tried in vain to accommodate a last-minute rush by voters, many of whom had spent up to five hours queuing in freezing conditions.The Congress of Democrats (CoD), the DTA, Republican Party, National Democratic Unity Organisation (Nudo) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) took one seat each.The “people’s representatives” Ada/Gui, making its debut, and a residents’ group, the Local Community Association (LCA), which previously had one seat, were left empty-handed.Swapo collected 28 680 of the 45 760 votes cast in a low turnout, and saw the overall voting pattern for the party drop from 69,1 per cent to 62,6 per cent.A staggering 85 068 of the capital’s 130 828 registered voters shunned the ballot box.This represents a 75 per cent stayaway.There was also a high number of spoiled votes: 689.The biggest losers in Windhoek were the DTA and the LCA.The DTA’s votes dropped from 17,8 per cent to 5,8 per cent, while the LCA collected 2,8 per cent compared to 7,2 per cent in the last elections.Newcomers to the City of Windhoek are the CoD, RP, Nudo and the UDF.Of parties that have taken part in previous Local Authority elections, the UDF was the only one to record an increase in Windhoek – up from 2,93 per cent to 3,77 per cent.Neither the CoD nor Nudo have taken part in local elections before.The Namibian was unable to establish the reasons behind the high stayaway rate, although some voters described the process as “very slow”.However, while this might have played a part, it is unlikely that it was the main factor.Some polling stations visited on Friday, such as the Wanaheda Police Station and the Women Centre in Okuryangava, were open until after 23h00 on Friday evening as polling officers tried in vain to accommodate a last-minute rush by voters, many of whom had spent up to five hours queuing in freezing conditions.