End of an era for independent candidacy?
Failed independents blame ECN hurdles
While independent candidates faced an uphill battle to enter the presidential race this year, some analysts believe their hard-won lessons could ensure they and others are prepared next time around.
The recent collapse of several independent candidates’ dreams to secure a spot on the November ballot paper has ignited debate on whether the independent candidate phenomenon has run its course in Namibian politics.
About 10 Namibians initially indicated they would contest next month’s presidential election. On nomination day, however, only three candidates had submitted their applications: Ally Angula, Elsie Chen and Jeremiah Kaambo.
But despite making it so far, they too failed to make it onto the ballot as they failed to collect the required 7 000 signatures countrywide.
The independent candidate phenomenon initially gained momentum in the country during the 2019 national elections when a then disgruntled Swapo member Dr Panduleni Itula made history as the first person to contest as an independent presidential candidate.
Itula got 242 657 of the 826 198 votes cast. He ended up as the runner-up behind Dr Hage Geingob, beating most of the other presidential candidates who stood on a party ticket.
Given Swapo’s dominance since independence, its presidential candidates have subsequently reaped the benefits of standing on a party ticket.
Analysts say independent candidates must seriously rethink their strategies and examine why they are struggling to meet the minimum requirements needed to secure a spot on the ballot.
Critics also accused independent candidates of announcing their intentions to stand as presidential candidates without doing the necessary groundwork to ensure they meet the requirements.
Blame ECN
But in their own defence, independent candidates have blamed the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) for their failures, citing several administrative and systemic challenges they faced during their short-lived quest for State House.
Angula claims she was inconvenienced by ECN’s “faulty system," which delayed her submission of the required number of signatures.
Meanwhile, Kaambo accused ECN of changing the rules at the last minute to ensure that “all three outsider candidates were denied access to this November’s ballot from an illegal last-minute attempt to change the rules.
“The rule is 500 signatures from seven of Namibia’s 14 regions, and these volunteers worked hard to get more, with the assumption authorities could work to disqualify half of them to keep their candidate off the ballot. But they found a new route of destruction – changing this rule at the last minute to require 500 from all 14 Namibian regions – thus duplicating the work,” he claimed.
Kaambo said there is also an unfair difference in the number of regions required for political parties compared to independent candidates.
“It is an inequity that does not serve Namibia's public interest, and in fact, making nomination much more difficult for only the independents actually undermines it,” he lamented.
By imposing such inequities, Kaambo said, ECN should subsidise independent candidates for the costs incurred.
Uphill battle
Political analyst Ndumba Kamwanyah has described the battle for independent candidates to succeed as “a tall order”.
Kamwanyah said presidential candidates competing on a party ticket have it easier compared to their independent counterparts.
He also said this time around “independent candidates did not have the strong financial and political backing like Itula in 2019”.
“Itula had the charisma and he did his groundwork by visiting most parts of the country even before announcing his intentions to contest as an independent candidate,” he pointed out.
But while some feel that the recent setback for independent candidates might be the end of an era for the independent candidate phenomenon, Kamwanyah believes there is still a light at the end of the tunnel.
“This actually opened up some sort of avenue for some people to start preparing for 2029. Where we might see successful independent candidates could be next year [during the regional council and local authority elections], where we might see many participating,” he said.
#namibiadecides2024
About 10 Namibians initially indicated they would contest next month’s presidential election. On nomination day, however, only three candidates had submitted their applications: Ally Angula, Elsie Chen and Jeremiah Kaambo.
But despite making it so far, they too failed to make it onto the ballot as they failed to collect the required 7 000 signatures countrywide.
The independent candidate phenomenon initially gained momentum in the country during the 2019 national elections when a then disgruntled Swapo member Dr Panduleni Itula made history as the first person to contest as an independent presidential candidate.
Itula got 242 657 of the 826 198 votes cast. He ended up as the runner-up behind Dr Hage Geingob, beating most of the other presidential candidates who stood on a party ticket.
Given Swapo’s dominance since independence, its presidential candidates have subsequently reaped the benefits of standing on a party ticket.
Analysts say independent candidates must seriously rethink their strategies and examine why they are struggling to meet the minimum requirements needed to secure a spot on the ballot.
Critics also accused independent candidates of announcing their intentions to stand as presidential candidates without doing the necessary groundwork to ensure they meet the requirements.
Blame ECN
But in their own defence, independent candidates have blamed the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) for their failures, citing several administrative and systemic challenges they faced during their short-lived quest for State House.
Angula claims she was inconvenienced by ECN’s “faulty system," which delayed her submission of the required number of signatures.
Meanwhile, Kaambo accused ECN of changing the rules at the last minute to ensure that “all three outsider candidates were denied access to this November’s ballot from an illegal last-minute attempt to change the rules.
“The rule is 500 signatures from seven of Namibia’s 14 regions, and these volunteers worked hard to get more, with the assumption authorities could work to disqualify half of them to keep their candidate off the ballot. But they found a new route of destruction – changing this rule at the last minute to require 500 from all 14 Namibian regions – thus duplicating the work,” he claimed.
Kaambo said there is also an unfair difference in the number of regions required for political parties compared to independent candidates.
“It is an inequity that does not serve Namibia's public interest, and in fact, making nomination much more difficult for only the independents actually undermines it,” he lamented.
By imposing such inequities, Kaambo said, ECN should subsidise independent candidates for the costs incurred.
Uphill battle
Political analyst Ndumba Kamwanyah has described the battle for independent candidates to succeed as “a tall order”.
Kamwanyah said presidential candidates competing on a party ticket have it easier compared to their independent counterparts.
He also said this time around “independent candidates did not have the strong financial and political backing like Itula in 2019”.
“Itula had the charisma and he did his groundwork by visiting most parts of the country even before announcing his intentions to contest as an independent candidate,” he pointed out.
But while some feel that the recent setback for independent candidates might be the end of an era for the independent candidate phenomenon, Kamwanyah believes there is still a light at the end of the tunnel.
“This actually opened up some sort of avenue for some people to start preparing for 2029. Where we might see successful independent candidates could be next year [during the regional council and local authority elections], where we might see many participating,” he said.
#namibiadecides2024
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