Veteran lawmaker McHenry Venaani says the Office of the Leader of the Official Opposition creates respect for opposition parties in the parliament.
The former official opposition leader on Thursday disagreed with Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) president Panduleni Itula, who believes this parliamentary position is unconstitutional.
Itula on Thursday called for either the abolishment of the position or for an act of parliament to formally legitimise the Office of the Leader of the Official Opposition.
He said the IPC, the largest opposition party in the National Assembly, will not recognise the role of the leader of the official opposition.
Though his party secured 20 seats in the parliament during the 2024 National Assembly elections, Itula is not among them.
He opted to run only for the presidential elections, arguing against dual candidacy.
Venaani, however, says the leader of the largest opposition party in parliament assumes the role of the official leader of the opposition.
In 2017, former president Hage Geingob made a declaration to establish the Office of the Leader of the Official Opposition.
The subsequent proclamation provided for the role’s remuneration and benefits, which Venaani has received over the past two years.
“When we started the negotiations about the creation of this office, my initial aim was for us to have an act of parliament.
“Then the Office of the Attorney General advised that this office is a creation of a parliamentary system.
“The president must just proclaim it,” Venaani says.
He says he has brought respectability to the Office of the Leader of the Official Opposition.
Venaani served in this position for 10 years until his party, the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), lost the official opposition title to the IPC, following a dismal performance in the November 2024 elections.
“Even president Hage Geingob recognised it and said, ‘Venaani, what you have done for democracy in this country will go down in the annals of history. You really fought for the opposition to have a position of respect. You have sophisticated our politics’.
“I have distinguished myself as a leader of the official opposition,” Venaani says.
He says Itula’s argument that the creation of the office was unconstitutional is flawed.
“In England, there is no written constitution, but there is a leader of the official opposition.
“Where is it written in England? It is in the rules of the House of Commons,” he says.
Itula believes the office of the leader of the official opposition carries “the trappings of officialdom, but lacks lawful authority under the Namibian Constitution”.
“After careful analysis, it is evident that the Office of the Leader of the Official Opposition in Namibia lacks any proper legal foundation.
The IPC leader urges the parliament to pass a law that would establish the office.
He also calls for the suspension and review of the benefits awarded to the leader of the official opposition.
– Nampa
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