Edward Mumbuu
With four representatives in the National Assembly, the Landless People’s Movement (LPM) believes it has the requisite ammunition in its arsenal to robustly debate bread and butter issues without fear or favour.
This is what could be deduced from the comments of LPM’s chief-change-campaigner Bernadus Swartbooi during a recent in-depth interview with Nampa.
Apart from Swartbooi, the other LPM members of parliament are Henny Seibeb, Utaara Mootu and Edmund Isaaks.
He said what other political parties have done is to recycle old leaders who have no ideas to take the country into an upward trajectory. “We are not fighting. We are standing for what our manifesto stands for, the truth… At the end of the day we don’t have to like each other or which party you come from. But certainly, we can sit together and do something good for the people of this country,” Swartbooi said.
LPM will forge ahead in attempting to articulate what is best for Namibia in terms of alternative policies, processes and laws, he added. According to him, LPM has a high sense of responsibility towards the people of Namibia, something which they cannot forsake.
“For us, it is not a joke,” he said.
On face value, he said, unity among opposition parties was evident on the first day of the National Assembly, referring to the tightly contested elections for the position of speaker and deputy speaker of the National Assembly.
On that day, Vipuakuje Muharukua of the Popular Democratic Movement nominated Dudu Murorua of the United Democratic Front for the position of Speaker. His nomination was seconded by Swanu’s Tangeni Iijambo.
Peter Katjavivi, who prevailed was nominated by two Swapo MPs, Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila and former agriculture minister, Alpheus !Naruseb.
Katjavivi beat Murorua with 64 votes to the latter’s 31 votes. There was one spoiled ballot. What is interesting is that Katjavivi would not have won the speakership election had it not been for the one extra vote which appears to have been from an opposition member according to the two-thirds majority rule.
Swapo has 63 seats in the National Assembly.
- Nampa