Photo Credit: Electoral Commission of Namibia - ECN, Facebook
Namibia
extended voting for a second time Thursday with the opposition crying foul
after logistical failures prevented many people from casting their ballots in
the closely fought election.
With
the ruling party facing its strongest challenge yet, opposition parties called
for a halt to the vote counting and said they had lost confidence in the
process.
The
polls are a key test for the liberation-era South West Africa People's
Organization party that has governed the mineral-rich country since
independence 34 years ago. But SWAPO is being challenged by a younger
generation of voters frustrated by high unemployment and enduring inequalities.
About
1.5 million people in the sparsely populated desert nation were registered to
vote in Wednesday's presidential and legislative elections.
Many
were still in line when polls were scheduled to close at 9 p.m. Wednesday, some
saying they were in line for 12 hours.
The
Electoral Commission of Namibia kept some polling stations open overnight into
Thursday and allowed others to begin ballot counting.
The
disarray led to angry complaints from opposition parties, which suggested there
may have been an attempt to limit voting amid a strong showing for the parties
challenging SWAPO's grip on power.
The
Electoral Commission said it had decided to keep 36 polling stations open on
Friday and Saturday in response to the criticism and to accommodate anyone who
had not been able to cast their ballot.
It
acknowledged a range of problems that held up voting, including a shortage of
ballot papers because of higher-than-expected turnout and the overheating of
tablets used to verify voters.
A
member of a Namibian opposition political party displays a banner calling for a
halt to voting inside the boardroom of the Electoral Commission of Namibia in
Windhoek on Nov. 28, 2024.
In
some cases, mobile voting teams left areas with voters still in the queues, it
said.
The
main opposition party, Independent Patriots for Change, led the calls for a
halt in the process.
"We
have a reason to believe that the [Electoral Commission] is deliberately
suppressing voters and deliberately trying to frustrate voters from casting
their vote," said IPC official Christine Aochamus.
The
smaller Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters opposition party said it wanted the
vote to annulled.
"This
election process was not free," said representative Saddam Amushelelo.
"We are not going to accept the election results."
The
IPC's leader, former dentist and lawyer Panduleni Itula, is perhaps the strongest
challenger to SWAPO's candidate, Vice President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, who
could become the first woman to lead the country.
Analysts
have said Nandi-Ndaitwah, 72, would be forced into a second round if she does
not win more than half of the votes.
The
long queues were "a signal that people really want a change," said
Ndumba Kamwanyah, lecturer in the Department of Human Sciences at the
University of Namibia.
"For
me, it seems it's not good news for the incumbent party," he told AFP.
Some
voters had given up after standing in line for hours in the sun and before
voting was first extended on Wednesday night, said Maria Nambahu, who waited
five hours to cast her ballot.
"It
should have been better organized," the 25-year-old said. "That makes
it unfair."
Edison
Bernardo, a 25-year-old financial assistant, said there should be a rerun.
"People
did not vote; many left the line," he told AFP. "If this is the
actual election, there will definitely be riots."
Namibia
is a major uranium and diamond exporter, but not many of its nearly 3 million
people have benefited from that wealth in terms of improved infrastructure and
job opportunities, analysts say.
Around 42% of Namibia's registered voters are younger than 35, the election authority says.
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