Exit DTA, enter PDM

McHENRY Venaani says his party will transform the political culture in the country to put Namibia among the rapidly developing nations.

He made these remarks at the party’s extraordinary congress, which officially changed the party’s name from the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA) to the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) last week.

Venaani said after his movement has won the future, it will push for the inclusion of all Namibians into mainstream economic development, especially single mothers, and will also address the various challenges faced by the nation, such as the need for adequate housing and employment so that “we can push back the frontiers of poverty”.

“We must win the future, and not just rebrand and adopt a new name. But we must drastically transform the structure of our economy from a raw material extractive one to one where extraction is accompanied by value addition,” Venaani stressed.

The DTA was formed in 1977 as a result of the Turnhalle constitutional conference which was tasked with the development of a constitution for a self-governed Namibia under South African control.

Political parties which formed part of the Turnhalle alliance included the National Democratic Party (NDP), the Republican Party (RP), the Christian Democratic Party (CDP) and the National Unity Democratic Organisation (Nudo), among others.

Venaani said the party’s change of name was aimed at dissolving the “colonial” Turnhalle alliance to change the way people relate to politics in the country, and to seriously challenge the ruling party in the 2019 elections.

He described the new name of the party as follows: Popular – “something for the people by the people”, Democratic – “the party that has fought for and is among the founders of Namibian democracy” and Movement – “the party and the Namibian people are constantly evolving, alive and not static”.

“Transformation had to be considered in the upcoming elections. We are no longer an alliance of smaller parties,” said Venaani.

The PMD leader added that the change started with the party adopting a new constitution, which ended the era of a tribal-based affiliate organisational structure, and reconfigured it into a single entity.

Although the party’s colours and logo will remain the same, Venaani announced that the PDM will move away from the delegate-based central committee to a central committee consisting of 72 permanent members.

The change of name was also considered to accommodate other political parties which were willing to form coalitions with the PDM to seriously challenge for political power against the ruling party, he added.

PDM secretary general Manuel Ngaringombe last week said the party’s doors are open to everyone willing to work with them to strengthen the challenge.

Ngaringombe’s words were, however, met with criticism from another opposition party when Nudo’s secretary general, Meundju Jahanika, said his party would only join a coalition when other parties become serious about it.

Jahanika said coalition negotiations in the past did not work out because the then DTA had pulled out of the negotiations because of their hunger for power.

Swanu president Tangeni Iijambo last week also said if the coalition was to work out, parties needed to first address the different political ideologies between them.

Venaani, however, denied Jahanika’s claims, stating that they never gave up on the idea of co-operating with other parties.

“We never pulled out of the negotiations. It was only the RDP which pulled out at the time. Those claims are false,” Venaani said, adding that his party was currently in negotiations with other opposition parties to formulate a strategy for the 2019 national elections.

He, however, refused to disclose the names of the parties they were negotiating with.