By Mbatjiua Ngavirue
WINDHOEK
There has been mixed reaction to Monitor Action Group’s (MAG) suggestion that opposition parties should unite around a single candidate for the 2009 presidential elections.
The responses from other parties range from cautiously guarded, to lukewarm and even slightly hostile.
MAG passed a resolution proposing the single presidential candidate at its recently held annual general meeting.
The party suggested that individual parties could participate in the 2009 elections and still maintain their own political principles, structures and candidate lists, while agreeing to unite behind a common presidential candidate.
A statement from the party said it made the proposal in the interest of maintaining multi-party democracy in Namibia.
Leader of the official opposition and president of the Congress of Democrats
(CoD), Ben Ulenga, said his party had so far not discussed the matter.
“If MAG have such an idea, it is up to them to take the idea further and explain what they have in mind,” he said.
DTA of Namibia leader, Katuutire Kaura, recalled that early this year, he proposed that smaller political parties must cooperate.
By this, he meant cooperation not only at presidential level, but also at regional level in order to win constituencies in the regions.
“At the moment, we have a situation where we might collectively win more votes, but the ruling party still wins the seats because it is the party with the single most votes.
“We need to break the monopoly the ruling party has on power and at least win control of the second house, the National Council,” he said.
He gave the example of Kenya, where opposition parties united under Mwai Kibaki’s National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) to unseat the Kenya African National Union after 38 years of uninterrupted one-party rule.
Kaura, however, said that he personally felt it would not be possible to find an independent candidate – such as a neutral technocrat.
“What has to happen is what happened in Kenya, the opposition parties will have to choose the leader of one of the parties as a compromise candidate.
“It has to be an experienced political leader who has been through thick and thin and proved he is competent to run the country,” he said.
The least enthusiastic response to the MAG proposal came from their white compatriots and bitter rivals of the Republican Party.
“Why should we unite around a presidential candidate if we cannot unite around anything else,” RP leader, Henk Mudge, said.
He stressed that Namibia is a democracy and that one cannot manipulate the democratic system.
“We know Kosie Pretorius. He has tried to manipulate the political system for years, which explains his various reincarnations as first the National Party, then Aktur and now MAG.
“If the aim is to unite around a common enemy, then you won’t find the
Republican Party anywhere near it,” he said.
Mudge said the RP has a clear vision of what it wants to achieve in the politics of the country.
“Other parties have no vision, and you are always known by who your friends are.”
His party would, however, continue working with other political parties on issues concerning national unity, national reconciliation and national security.
He did not entirely rule out joining a coalition in future, if the country reached a stage where a coalition might become workable.
“Come the future, and we see there are other partners with a vision then we can work together.
“We will not unite for the sake of a common enemy. In that case, we would even rather work with the ruling party towards solving the everyday problems of our people at the grass roots,” Mudge said.
It took 38 years from independence for opposition parties in Kenya to find enough common ground to unite, and if history is any guide, Namibia may need another 21 years before the same happens here.