IN order to make an informed decision on whom to vote for in next month’s general elections, Namibian voters will have to go through sixteen election manifestos and study the profiles of nine presidential candidates.
One can argue the voters are spoilt for choice, having such a big pool to choose from. But if you flip the coin, there is also a multitude of negativities emanating from this state of affairs of having too many political parties.
Perhaps the first casualty of this proliferation of political parties is unity, which we so desperately need to safeguard in this largely divided country of ours.
Too many political parties mean Namibians are divided among all these parties. Sadly, many Namibians see others as enemies simply because of their political alignments. This in itself is a blow to national unity.
However, the biggest beneficiary from this scattered nature of our politics is the ruling party Swapo. We can only imagine how excited Swapo activists were upon hearing yesterday that they are up against 15 opposition parties in next month’s election – each fighting its own battle.
A cherry on top of Swapo’s cake is obviously that all parties would contest individually, as no coalition of any sort was registered with the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) as is required for such type of electoral participation.
The unwillingness of smaller – and weaker – political parties to join forces and mount a serious challenge is enough evidence of how egos, or even greed, have become an integral part of our politics. Nobody wants to work with the other over fears that person will pip them to some position of power.
Without mincing words, these parties mean a lot of money which has to do with the economy of the nation. You can agree with one that most parties are established for exploitation. No wonder a greater percentage of Namibians are working as elephants but descend so low to eat like ants in the midst of milk and honey due to some devilish characters in our politics.
We have to be diplomatic in our approach to sensitive issues such as proliferation of political parties in a depressed economy. Political parties should not be allowed to thrive on greediness and selfish interest of Shylock politicians.
Of course our constitution allows this trend to continue unabated and citizens have to respect that supreme document of our country. But while this proliferation of political parties is a disguised ploy of greed and selfishness in many a case, there is a real threat to our democracy.
Democracy usually finds its strength in a competitive political environment, where even analysts of repute and commentators of sharp intellect find it hard to bet on who is winning an election.
Of course, the nation cannot expect better when many parties are formed on tribal or racial bases, or as speedy vehicles to parliament where perks are quite attractive. And then you have parties that are formed out of frustration, not over the state of affairs of the country’s socio-economic situation, but over personal confrontations.
Political leaders have an obligation towards this country, which includes preserving the nation’s being and resources. A leaner political landscape is needed for a nation of 2.1 million people.
The search for high office by our politicians has become, for the lack of a better word, ridiculous in recent years. Nobody is talking about their party’s ideologies. Namibians are simply guessing as to which one is a social-democratic party, socialism-inspired party or right wingers.
It would therefore not surprise us if these elections turn out to be a mere formality of complying with the country’s constitutional requirement of holding elections after every five years, instead of being an opportunity to effect positive change and strengthen Namibia economically and democratically.
Editor