Shalli slammed for grantingopposition only 15 seats

Opposition parties should get only 15 out of 96 seats in the National Assembly after this year’s elections.

Retired Namibian Defence Force chief Martin Shalli said this while addressing a Swapo rally at Rundu on Saturday.

Shalli, who is also a member of the Swapo central committee, said: “. . . because it’s a democracy, we don’t really mind the opposition taking 15 of those seats. It’s fine. They can take 15 seats in parliament so that we keep our democracy alive.”

He added: “Anything more than that, no. They can divide those 15 seats among themselves. There are 16 political parties. So, one will get nothing.”

However, political analyst Henning Melber says it is not for Shalli to decide how mandates are distributed, but it depends on voters.

“If one treasures Namibia’s democracy, no party should ever have a two-third majority again with which it could rule without any interference.

“So, 15 seats would not be enough to safeguard the country from a de facto one-party hegemony,” Melber says.

Political scientist Rui Tyitende says Namibians in 2019 and 2020 have rejected Swapo’s dominance for failing to deliver on the material conditions of people.

“It was a denouncement of policy incompetence, greed, a culture of conspicuous consumption in a society drowning in poverty, hunger and unemployment. That is what the Namibian people voted against,” he says.

Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) lawmaker Maximilian Katjimune says Shalli’s wishes are not shared by the Namibian electorate.

“We must remind him that Jesus has arrived. He visited South Africa during their elections on 29 May and is now on his way to Namibia on 27 November.”

Katjimune says: “The electorate should make sure we bring Swapo to under 50% in the parliament on 27 November.”

Landless People’s Movement (LPM) spokesperson Lifalaza Simataa says the country needs to shift away from the governing party being the majority in the parliament.

“If the opposition parties were limited to 15 seats, it would allow the ruling party to have the two-third majority. Democracy does not thrive in such situations. It’s a bit misguided to say 15 for all opposition parties are sufficient,” he says.