The Landless People’s Movement, the country’s third-largest party which governs the southern regions of Hardap and //Kharas, said yesterday that it would not form a coalition with any political party in the 2024 general elections.
“As 2024 approaches, I want to state categorically that we will not be part of any coalition,” party leader Bernadus Swartbooi told journalists yesterday.
“We have seen that some of the political parties we have are not fighting as hard, loudly or consistently about issues that
need to be fought in order to
build a more resilient democracy and a more resilient framework in which institutions that are supposed to protect us are strengthened, and state institutions do not become Swapo party agents”, he stressed.
Coalitions became a phenomenon in Namibian politics after the last regional and local government elections in 2020 when opposition parties managed to lift Swapo out of many local and regional councils, but in some instances could not win outright majorities.
Some of these councils include Windhoek, Okahandja, Walvis Bay, Swakopmund and Rehoboth.
The LPM is currently in coalition with other political parties governing the City of Windhoek.
The LPM, Swapo, Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) and National Unity Democratic Organisation (Nudo) are running Windhoek as coalition
partners.
The party is also in coalition with other political parties in other local authorities across the country.
Analyst and former lecturer in the Department of Communication at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), Admire Mare, said the LPM’s decision shows high levels of frustration and the problems associated with coalition politics.
“Parties often enter into marriages of convenience without any sincerity of addressing the felt needs of their constituencies.
“Similar failed coalitions have been witnessed in South Africa where various parties are struggling to work together, owing to ideological and political differences,” he added.
Political analyst Ndumba Kamwanya said coalitions must be formed out of ideological convictions, not out of convenience.
“I think that’s what the LPM leader is hinting about. There must be a common purpose”. – ktjitemisa@nepc.com.na