PDM calls for coalition to send Swapo packing in 2024
Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) president McHenry Venaani says his party is prepared to form a coalition with opposition parties to unseat the ruling Swapo party and seize power in the 2024 general elections.
Venaani made these remarks in front of thousands of PDM supporters who attended the party’s political rally in Rundu on Saturday.
"It is my sincere hope as the leader of the official opposition to bring all opposition parties together to have one single presidential candidate, even if it’s Lukato," Venaani said.
"I am serious about the project of removing this regime from power. Let us come together, sit around the table, and talk about the future of our country. We are ready as a mature party, and we are going to lead from the front to bring everybody together to bring about the change," he vowed.
The call for a coalition to nominate a single opposition presidential candidate has been making the rounds for several years, but has attracted mixed feelings.
Not a workable solution
A year ago, Panduleni Itula, leader of the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), expressed opposition to this idea during the party's launch for the 2024 election campaign in Rundu.
Itula argued that it was a foreign concept that had also proven unsuccessful in many countries.
"What is the nature of that coalition?", he asked at the time, expressing pessimism about the idea and its ability to attract voters.
He argued that in line with Namibian law, there are limited options to create such a coalition, including merging "all political parties and giving it one new name going into elections".
"That change of political parties into one entity still did not convince the Namibian people to vote for them. It’s a useless task; it’s not going to succeed," he warned.
"How do you determine who will go to parliament if you have a grouping of political parties? What framework of negotiations and legality of negotiations will you actually [be] going into?
"Start talking about the framework before you start talking of a coalition," he said.
Unemployment ‘tsunami’
Meanwhile, PDM pulled a crowd of thousands to their rally this weekend.
As the party marched through the streets of Rundu, a high number of trucks, cars and buses brought traffic to a halt.
At the event, Venaani said unemployment in the country has reached staggering heights.
He said many unemployed youth in villages are supported by the pension grants the elderly receive from government.
"There is a tsunami lurking on our horizon – that of the youth not being employed and left idle. Indeed, our youth unemployment levels have now reached astonishingly high proportions.
"As of last year, the youth unemployment rate stood at a staggering 46.1%. Even as the PDM makes strides in parliament to highlight this crisis – passing motions for it to be considered a state of emergency – one of their most dedicated MPs, fighting on the same front, was detained for marching alongside our youth in protest against this endemic joblessness."
He warned: "The silencing of these pleas for change is a red flag that should not be ignored, but reckoned with.”
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THOUSANDS ATTEND: Scenes from the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) rally that was held in Rundu at the weekend. PHOTOS: KENYA KAMBOWE
Venaani made these remarks in front of thousands of PDM supporters who attended the party’s political rally in Rundu on Saturday.
"It is my sincere hope as the leader of the official opposition to bring all opposition parties together to have one single presidential candidate, even if it’s Lukato," Venaani said.
"I am serious about the project of removing this regime from power. Let us come together, sit around the table, and talk about the future of our country. We are ready as a mature party, and we are going to lead from the front to bring everybody together to bring about the change," he vowed.
The call for a coalition to nominate a single opposition presidential candidate has been making the rounds for several years, but has attracted mixed feelings.
Not a workable solution
A year ago, Panduleni Itula, leader of the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), expressed opposition to this idea during the party's launch for the 2024 election campaign in Rundu.
Itula argued that it was a foreign concept that had also proven unsuccessful in many countries.
"What is the nature of that coalition?", he asked at the time, expressing pessimism about the idea and its ability to attract voters.
He argued that in line with Namibian law, there are limited options to create such a coalition, including merging "all political parties and giving it one new name going into elections".
"That change of political parties into one entity still did not convince the Namibian people to vote for them. It’s a useless task; it’s not going to succeed," he warned.
"How do you determine who will go to parliament if you have a grouping of political parties? What framework of negotiations and legality of negotiations will you actually [be] going into?
"Start talking about the framework before you start talking of a coalition," he said.
Unemployment ‘tsunami’
Meanwhile, PDM pulled a crowd of thousands to their rally this weekend.
As the party marched through the streets of Rundu, a high number of trucks, cars and buses brought traffic to a halt.
At the event, Venaani said unemployment in the country has reached staggering heights.
He said many unemployed youth in villages are supported by the pension grants the elderly receive from government.
"There is a tsunami lurking on our horizon – that of the youth not being employed and left idle. Indeed, our youth unemployment levels have now reached astonishingly high proportions.
"As of last year, the youth unemployment rate stood at a staggering 46.1%. Even as the PDM makes strides in parliament to highlight this crisis – passing motions for it to be considered a state of emergency – one of their most dedicated MPs, fighting on the same front, was detained for marching alongside our youth in protest against this endemic joblessness."
He warned: "The silencing of these pleas for change is a red flag that should not be ignored, but reckoned with.”
[email protected]
THOUSANDS ATTEND: Scenes from the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) rally that was held in Rundu at the weekend. PHOTOS: KENYA KAMBOWE
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