Independent candidates take ‘shortcut’ to presidency

The road to the State House has proven to be a steep hill for many who aspire to occupy the highest office in the country.

While the race for the presidency was littered with individuals who announced that they will stand as independent candidates during the 27 November presidential election, it appears that many do not have the numbers to make it onto the ballot paper.

The electoral law requires each independent candidate to solicit at least 7 000 signatures from registered voters - 500 per region - to qualify to stand as a presidential candidate, while registering a political party only requires 3 500 signatures - 500 each from a minimum of seven regions.

The logistical nightmare that comes with criss-crossing the country for signatures has prompted two of the aspiring presidential candidates to rethink their strategies.

Human rights activist Rosa Namises and freelance journalist Frans Koolike, who earlier this year indicated their appetite to run as independent candidates, now say they will not stand as independent candidates any more, but will instead form political parties and stand as the presidential candidate for their respective formations.

This, they said, will also increase their chances to make it into parliament if their presidential ambitions fail - provided they garner enough votes to make it there.

Tight deadline

These revelations emanated after the two were probed on whether they had secured the required number of signatures in order to run as independent candidates.

Namises, a former Congress for Democrats (COD) secretary-general, explained that her decision to form Voice of Namibia (VON) emanated from the process of collecting signatures. “I was advised that it would be better to form a political party. That is why we formed VON. Potential voters do not know who to vote for apart from us,” she said.

Namises added that the party had secured the necessary signatures, and its application is with the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN).

Koolike noted that his formation - Social Freedom Party - still needed to secure signatures from two more regions and then submit the application to the ECN.

With less than a month left before ECN closes the nomination period, he is hopeful that he will be able to do it all before 16 October, which is public sitting day. “We are busy getting signatures for the two remaining regions. I am well aware of the deadlines, but we will cross that bridge when we get there,” Koolike said.

“What we want to see is social transformation. With a political party, it simply means that if you cannot make it to the highest office, one can still make it to parliament and be part of the legislative arm and advocate for social transformation. The electorate, especially those in the rural areas, are tired of the usual rhetoric,” he added.

‘Taking the shortcut’

Political analyst Ndumba Kamwanyah urged ECN to level the playing field among all presidential candidates, adding that the differing requirements would result in “aspiring candidates taking the shortcut, which is the party route”.

“It seems like if you are in a party, it is easier to become a candidate, while we make it difficult for those who want to stand as independent candidates. There must be an alignment to ensure fairness,” he said during a telephonic interview yesterday.

In fact, some aspiring candidates claimed that their efforts to collect signatures countrywide have been challenged by incidents of political intimidation and violence, particularly from supporters of the ruling party, Swapo.

Independent presidential candidate Ally Angula, who claims she has collected nearly 75% of the 7 000 signatures so far, this week told Namibian Sun that documents containing the signatures she had collected were almost torn up.

“We’ve been threatened and told that our work is illegal,” she said.

[email protected]