2014-12-04Mathias Haufiku WINDHOEK - Congress of Democrats president Ben Ulenga says losing his parliamentary status after a dismal performance in this year’s national polls does not mean it is the end of the world for his party. The former PLAN combatant, shell-shocked by Monday’s announcement of the results of last Friday’s elections, avowed he would regroup and come back with an appropriate strategy. “The elections are not a reason to think it is the end for CoD. We will go back to the drawing board with the leadership and members to map the way forward. The members as well as the leadership believe there will be no end for CoD,” Ulenga told New Era. The party lost its National Assembly status after managing only a paltry 3 404 votes of the total 893 643 votes cast in Friday’s National Assembly election. In the presidential election, Ulenga ended eighth out of the nine candidates who competed to succeed President Pohamba next year, after garnering a measly 3 518 of the 890 738 votes cast. “There are still many unanswered questions. I can say that the accuracy of the electronic voting machines and their efficiency are questionable. We did not even know that these machines freeze and have a maximum number of votes they can record,” lamented Ulenga who together with a group of prominent Swapo members formed CoD just before the 1999 national elections. “We do not want to cry foul because we are aware of the fact that, provided the elections were free and fair, the way people voted is always a voice from the voting public. That voice cannot be ignored, you need to listen and act, review the whole situation and restructure your programmes according to that voice,” said Ulenga who has led the party since its formation in 1999. “DTA of Namibia can be used as an example, they have been going down since independence and now they are picking up. Swanu came back to parliament in 2009 after a long absence. In Namibia we have many examples of parties making comebacks so there is no reason to think it is the end of the CoD,” enthused a confident Ulenga. After its maiden elections in 1999 in which it got seven seats in the national legislature, CoD has taken a political nosedive after securing only five seats in 2004, while in 2009 it only managed one seat. By Mathias Haufiku 2014-12-04Mathias Haufiku
