Windhoek
Parliament has dismissed as misleading a story that appeared in yesterday’s Namibian Sun newspaper under the heading “Seat-less opposition vow to march,” with reference to the National Democratic Party (NDP), Christian Democratic Voice (CDV) and Namibian Economic Freedom Fighters (NEFF).
The story contained misinformation, which if not addressed may create confusion in the public domain. It infers that once a political party is formed on the Namibian political landscape, it automatically qualifies for public funding as part of the political parties funding programme, said David Nahogandja, the public relations officer of parliament.
He said the report also seemed to imply the National Assembly determines which political party to fund or not. Nahogandja said the funding of political parties is a legal entitlement as stipulated in Chapter 4, of the Electoral Act: “The fund allocation formula is determined by Section 155 of Part 3, Chapter 4, of the Electoral Act 2014, and is based on the principle of proportional representation, as determined in Article 49 and Schedule 4 of the Namibian Constitution.
“As such, only political parties represented in parliament are entitled to receive public funding, based on the number of seats parties they have in parliament,” he further explained.
The number of seats a party holds in parliament determines the “weight” of the mandate they received from the electorate through popular elections, and hence the amount of money they are entitled to. The above-mentioned parties participated in the 2014 National Assembly Elections, but failed to secure seats in the National Assembly. Therefore, the National Assembly, as per the Electoral Act of 2014, has no obligation whatsoever to fund political parties outside the stipulations of the said Act and the Namibian Constitution, Nahogandja pointed out.
The issues that the three political parties are raising are, therefore, completely outside the mandate of the National Assembly, he said.