Swapo to summon MPs over same-sex verdict
Party’s top four to sit in a fortnight
A series of events are being lined up by the ruling party to counter what many have hailed as an 'inclusivity' Supreme Court judgment.
Swapo is planning to summon all its members of parliament and instruct them to reject, through legislation, last week’s landmark Supreme Court ruling that recognised same-sex marriages involving Namibians and contracted abroad.
There is also a push within the party’s central committee and politburo to isolate President Hage Geingob and rely on the remaining three members of the party’s so-called ‘top four’, because the head of state is viewed as "too liberal" and thus likely to support same-sex marriages and the verdict.
Geingob’s remarks last year that there is no room in his proverbial Namibian House for laws discriminating against citizens on, among others, "grounds of gender", have resurfaced on social media and have been used as cannon fodder to cast aspersions on the president’s willingness to reject the ruling.
Supreme law
Legally, Geingob has no bearing on court verdicts and cannot demand their reversal.
A Supreme Court judgment cannot be appealed, and, in law, it is binding on all other courts in the country.
There are only two ways in which any Supreme Court decision can be reversed. First, Article 81 of the Namibian Constitution gives the court the option to rescind the decision by itself. The second resource lies in parliament passing a law that contradicts the Supreme Court’s decision.
It is with the latter option that Swapo seeks to reverse the court’s decision by summoning its parliamentarians in both the National Assembly and National Council, where it holds a majority. Some opposition parties also rejected the ruling last week.
The same-sex marriage ruling, based mostly on the constitutional provision for equality for all Namibians, has been welcomed by the country’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community – and many Namibians in general – as a positive step towards inclusion.
Raised hackles
However, Namibian Sun is informed that the verdict has raised temperatures in both the Swapo politburo and central committee. It is these structures that have urged the top-four leaders of the party to meet between May 31 and 1 June to discuss the matter.
After the meeting, party parliamentarians would then be called in and reportedly ordered to push through a law overturning, or contradicting, the verdict.
Last week, Swapo spokesperson Hilma Nicanor told Namibian Sun that the party rejects the ruling, which its youth league likened to "cultural imperialism".
The Swapo Party Youth League and the party’s elders’ council accused the court in separate statements of ignoring the country’s laws and of relying on laws from foreign jurisdictions to arrive at the landmark verdict.
A Swapo central committee and politburo member yesterday said: "The majority of the central committee and politburo are unequivocal in their rejection of this ruling.
"We will summon party parliamentarians and direct them to reject the ruling through enacting a contradictory law and ensuring the verdict is thrown out."
Support not guaranteed
The member added: "The general feeling is that Hage is dancing with these people [the LGBTQ community], and therefore we don’t trust that he will support the idea of enacting a contradictory law. There are already efforts to mobilise the other three leaders from the top four to ensure that, in their majority, they outvote Hage on this matter."
The top four include Geingob, vice-president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, secretary general Sophia Shaningwa and her deputy Uahekua Herunga. The three ran on the same slate at the Swapo Congress last year and emerged victorious.
Some members of Swapo feel the verdict will negatively affect the party’s performance in next year’s elections after some members of the public started blaming the former liberation movement for the verdict.
"We feel it’s sabotage designed to disadvantage Swapo in the election," a Swapo leader said yesterday, anonymously.
A coalition of Christian churches – citing moral values, culture and decency – is expected to hold a press conference in Windhoek today.
It is anticipated that their objective is to call on parliamentarians to enact a law aimed at overturning the recent court ruling.
There is also a push within the party’s central committee and politburo to isolate President Hage Geingob and rely on the remaining three members of the party’s so-called ‘top four’, because the head of state is viewed as "too liberal" and thus likely to support same-sex marriages and the verdict.
Geingob’s remarks last year that there is no room in his proverbial Namibian House for laws discriminating against citizens on, among others, "grounds of gender", have resurfaced on social media and have been used as cannon fodder to cast aspersions on the president’s willingness to reject the ruling.
Supreme law
Legally, Geingob has no bearing on court verdicts and cannot demand their reversal.
A Supreme Court judgment cannot be appealed, and, in law, it is binding on all other courts in the country.
There are only two ways in which any Supreme Court decision can be reversed. First, Article 81 of the Namibian Constitution gives the court the option to rescind the decision by itself. The second resource lies in parliament passing a law that contradicts the Supreme Court’s decision.
It is with the latter option that Swapo seeks to reverse the court’s decision by summoning its parliamentarians in both the National Assembly and National Council, where it holds a majority. Some opposition parties also rejected the ruling last week.
The same-sex marriage ruling, based mostly on the constitutional provision for equality for all Namibians, has been welcomed by the country’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community – and many Namibians in general – as a positive step towards inclusion.
Raised hackles
However, Namibian Sun is informed that the verdict has raised temperatures in both the Swapo politburo and central committee. It is these structures that have urged the top-four leaders of the party to meet between May 31 and 1 June to discuss the matter.
After the meeting, party parliamentarians would then be called in and reportedly ordered to push through a law overturning, or contradicting, the verdict.
Last week, Swapo spokesperson Hilma Nicanor told Namibian Sun that the party rejects the ruling, which its youth league likened to "cultural imperialism".
The Swapo Party Youth League and the party’s elders’ council accused the court in separate statements of ignoring the country’s laws and of relying on laws from foreign jurisdictions to arrive at the landmark verdict.
A Swapo central committee and politburo member yesterday said: "The majority of the central committee and politburo are unequivocal in their rejection of this ruling.
"We will summon party parliamentarians and direct them to reject the ruling through enacting a contradictory law and ensuring the verdict is thrown out."
Support not guaranteed
The member added: "The general feeling is that Hage is dancing with these people [the LGBTQ community], and therefore we don’t trust that he will support the idea of enacting a contradictory law. There are already efforts to mobilise the other three leaders from the top four to ensure that, in their majority, they outvote Hage on this matter."
The top four include Geingob, vice-president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, secretary general Sophia Shaningwa and her deputy Uahekua Herunga. The three ran on the same slate at the Swapo Congress last year and emerged victorious.
Some members of Swapo feel the verdict will negatively affect the party’s performance in next year’s elections after some members of the public started blaming the former liberation movement for the verdict.
"We feel it’s sabotage designed to disadvantage Swapo in the election," a Swapo leader said yesterday, anonymously.
A coalition of Christian churches – citing moral values, culture and decency – is expected to hold a press conference in Windhoek today.
It is anticipated that their objective is to call on parliamentarians to enact a law aimed at overturning the recent court ruling.
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