Identity politics ‘killing cooperation between parties’
Professor Johan Coetzee of the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) says identity politics and tribal association are preventing cooperation between political parties.
"They are intolerant and have identity politics. Even if you just look at the names of the political parties, you can see the identity politics. Some of them are associated with specific tribes and it [tribalism] is very active in Namibia," he said after a panel discussion about voter education at the university last week.
Coetzee believes the juvenile nature of Namibia's political parties contributes to their inability to join forces for the good of the Namibian people. "In Windhoek, we saw it at local government level - they worked together and then it fell apart. We are not at that point where parties have the tolerance and the political maturity to work together, irrespective of their differences. That capability must still develop," he said.
"There is no inward looking in parties - parties are so small that they haven't learnt to work together. Each one focuses too much on what it can win and lose," he added.
A closer election result may be just what many parties need to develop and shed their youth. "That is what is happening in South Africa with the Government of National Unity, where they consolidated democracy. In that aspect, as soon as the ruling party gets less votes, you will get this kind of development and it is possible that you will see it after this election, but not before," Coetzee said.
Quota-based thinking
He also warned that political representatives may lose sight of their commitment to public service in party systems that serve as echo chambers. "There is a party-centric growth which has the result that a politician is not responsible to the people out there, as long as you are on the party's list and your priorities are high up in the party, then they don't care what anyone thinks of them," he said.
He also shared that the mechanics of the National Assembly election could favour a quota-based manner of thinking. "The entire country is one constituency for a political party. That means that if I make quota in the parliamentary elections - the moment that I have a certain amount of votes, I will have a seat in parliament and I will be somewhat sorted."
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"They are intolerant and have identity politics. Even if you just look at the names of the political parties, you can see the identity politics. Some of them are associated with specific tribes and it [tribalism] is very active in Namibia," he said after a panel discussion about voter education at the university last week.
Coetzee believes the juvenile nature of Namibia's political parties contributes to their inability to join forces for the good of the Namibian people. "In Windhoek, we saw it at local government level - they worked together and then it fell apart. We are not at that point where parties have the tolerance and the political maturity to work together, irrespective of their differences. That capability must still develop," he said.
"There is no inward looking in parties - parties are so small that they haven't learnt to work together. Each one focuses too much on what it can win and lose," he added.
A closer election result may be just what many parties need to develop and shed their youth. "That is what is happening in South Africa with the Government of National Unity, where they consolidated democracy. In that aspect, as soon as the ruling party gets less votes, you will get this kind of development and it is possible that you will see it after this election, but not before," Coetzee said.
Quota-based thinking
He also warned that political representatives may lose sight of their commitment to public service in party systems that serve as echo chambers. "There is a party-centric growth which has the result that a politician is not responsible to the people out there, as long as you are on the party's list and your priorities are high up in the party, then they don't care what anyone thinks of them," he said.
He also shared that the mechanics of the National Assembly election could favour a quota-based manner of thinking. "The entire country is one constituency for a political party. That means that if I make quota in the parliamentary elections - the moment that I have a certain amount of votes, I will have a seat in parliament and I will be somewhat sorted."
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