NEFF only has itself to blame - ECN

A fierce battle between the Namibia Economic Freedom Fighters (NEFF) and the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) kicked off afresh in the Windhoek High Court yesterday.During the hearing of the urgent application - in which NEFF is challenging the electoral body’s decision to deregister it - the ECN argued that the party only has itself to blame for its deregistration because it did not comply with the "clear and mandatory" provisions of the electoral law.Although NEFF believes that the application&#039;s urgency is evident given the upcoming elections, the ECN claims that this urgency was self-wrought.“The applicant [NEFF] cannot ignore the law, act contrary to the law, receive state or public funding and ignore the law, get several reminders to comply with the law but still fail, get invitations to make representations or to be heard and still ignore, and when action is taken, run to court on an urgent basis. The urgency is self-created by [the party], the ECN argued, saying that on that basis alone, the case should be struck from the roll.First of its kindYesterday, NEFF argued before Judge Thomas Masuku that the ECN took its decision prematurely and irrationally and that it violated common law, as well as articles 17 and 18 of the Namibian Constitution.“This is an urgent application of significant constitutional importance in that it concerns the implementation of a drastic and probably unprecedented decision to deregister an existing political party with actual citizen support and current representation in the National Assembly,” NEFF claimed, describing itself as a relatively small and slightly left-leaning political party with around 100 000 members and sympathisers.The party’s legal representative Kadhila Amoomo also pointed out during yesterday&#039;s proceedings that this is the first case of its kind in the history of Namibia&#039;s courts and therefore there is not much legal framework for it.NEFF further claimed that most political parties historically fail to comply with the provisions of the law which led to its deregistration. "It is therefore contradictory, irrational and discriminatory to single out [NEFF] by requiring strict compliance," the party argued in court papers.‘Out of the blue’The court dispute follows after NEFF failed last week in an application to the Electoral Court regarding its deregistration. The party was informed of the ECN&#039;s decision in June this year.The ECN said it told political parties in June 2023 that they must submit their annual financial statements within six months. The NEFF was apparently given until 30 November 2023 to comply with the request.NEFF&#039;s deadline was, on 24 April 2024, reportedly changed to 30 June. However, the party claimed that the date was again brought forward to 10 May.Some of NEFF&#039;s statements were only received on 4 June and the party claimed the ECN told it that the electoral body looks forward to receiving the outstanding statements as soon as possible. NEFF believes there was no indication of any intention to deregister the party."Out of the blue and despite meaningful and continuous engagement, [the ECN] decided to abruptly and unlawfully deregister [the party] on 17 June."In conflictThe party argued that the ECN’s decision is contrary to Article 17 of the constitution which deals with people&#039;s right to participate in peaceful political activities. It further claimed that it is also contrary to Section 18, which obliges administrative bodies to act fairly and reasonably and comply with the requirements of common law and legislation.Meanwhile, NEFF claims that its deregistration is in conflict with the electoral law in that the party was not given an opportunity to be heard before the decision was made.– kristien@nmh-hub.com.na

NEFF only has itself to blame - ECN

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-22

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NEFF only has itself to blame - ECN

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-22

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