By Mathias Haufiku

WINDHOEK – SWANU has questioned the timing of the planned constitutional amendments saying the urgency with which the amendments are being made is suspicious and therefore cannot be entertained.

The party’s Secretary General Dr. Tangeni Iiyambo said this in a press release circulated on Friday in which he suggested the proposed amendments be referred to a Parliamentary Ad-hoc Committee to review and consult the population broadly.

“The timing of the wide-ranging constitutional amendments is wrong, the need thereof is non-existent considering that this outgoing parliament and government do not have enough time to consider the proposals. Above all, there is not enough time for broader populace consultations considering the broad and far-reaching proposals,” said the secretary general.

“It is our considered opinion that the proposed amendments be referred to a Parliamentary Ad-hoc Committee to review and consult the population broadly. The democratic principles which Namibia ascribes to, deserves broader national consultations on fundamental issues of this nature,” stated Iiyambo.

“Should the amendments be bulldozed through parliament and the dictatorship of the majority is used, SWANU would have no choice but to vote against them.

“Though the Electoral Act amendments are late, we probably have no choice, unlike the 2009 elections. We propose to discuss only the changes in the Electoral Act and not the constitutional amendments,” he said.

Last week DTA president McHenry Venaani said his party would fight tooth and nail what he termed the covert overhauling of the country’s constitution under the pretext of making amendments via the Law Reform and Development Commission.

Venaani challenged the LRDC to explain why it proposed making constitutional changes just months before the country holds its elections.