Analyst says Swapo certain to retain two-thirds majority

A LOCAL political commentator has backed the ruling Swapo party to retain or even add to its current two-thirds parliamentary majority in the November polls.

“Swapo is still the dominant party and it will remain so. It is certainly not in danger of losing that two-thirds majority, it will definitely attain the two-thirds majority and even add to it,” Professor Andre du Pisani of the University of Namibia said this week.Apart from Swapo’s huge following, Du Pisani cited the party’s massive resource base and its unequalled access to State media as some of the key factors putting it way ahead of its rivals.”The opposition parties are suffering from a serious resource scarcity, they are struggling to campaign effectively …you can’t compete effectively without enough resources,” he added.Du Pisani said that although recent internal squabbling within the ruling party could cost it some votes, the impact would not be significant to “crack” its power base.The academic said opposition parties now found themselves in a different situation compared to the previous elections, and it would be this new state of opposition parties which would determine their performance.”There is now more of them [opposition parties], some have refreshed themselves, while others are declining.So you would see some gaining new support and others losing seriously,” he said.Du Pisani said that while he expected opposition parties to largely compete for their existing vote, “it will be interesting to see whether they will make significant inroads into Swapo’s power base” – the North.Du Pisani noted that although Namibia’s elections were often not issue-based but rather dominated by personalities and party loyalty, he expected some socio-economic issues to feature prominently in the campaigns.He cited the scourge of HIV-AIDS, education and human resources development, corruption and the land issue as matters he expected to dominate political parties’ agendas.”The impact of HIV-AIDS cannot be ignored any more and interestingly all parties seem to have included something about the disease in their manifesto,” he said.On the land issue, Du Pisani said: “It is always on the political agenda, but the temperature around it will definitely hot up during the election.”Namibians go to the polls on November 15 and 16 to choose a successor to President Sam Nujoma and members of the National Assembly.It is certainly not in danger of losing that two-thirds majority, it will definitely attain the two-thirds majority and even add to it,” Professor Andre du Pisani of the University of Namibia said this week.Apart from Swapo’s huge following, Du Pisani cited the party’s massive resource base and its unequalled access to State media as some of the key factors putting it way ahead of its rivals.”The opposition parties are suffering from a serious resource scarcity, they are struggling to campaign effectively …you can’t compete effectively without enough resources,” he added.Du Pisani said that although recent internal squabbling within the ruling party could cost it some votes, the impact would not be significant to “crack” its power base.The academic said opposition parties now found themselves in a different situation compared to the previous elections, and it would be this new state of opposition parties which would determine their performance.”There is now more of them [opposition parties], some have refreshed themselves, while others are declining.So you would see some gaining new support and others losing seriously,” he said.Du Pisani said that while he expected opposition parties to largely compete for their existing vote, “it will be interesting to see whether they will make significant inroads into Swapo’s power base” – the North.Du Pisani noted that although Namibia’s elections were often not issue-based but rather dominated by personalities and party loyalty, he expected some socio-economic issues to feature prominently in the campaigns.He cited the scourge of HIV-AIDS, education and human resources development, corruption and the land issue as matters he expected to dominate political parties’ agendas.”The impact of HIV-AIDS cannot be ignored any more and interestingly all parties seem to have included something about the disease in their manifesto,” he said.On the land issue, Du Pisani said: “It is always on the political agenda, but the temperature around it will definitely hot up during the election.”Namibians go to the polls on November 15 and 16 to choose a successor to President Sam Nujoma and members of the National Assembly.