Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, from the governing South West Africa Folks’s Organisation (Swapo), has been voted in as Namibia’s first feminine president after final week’s disputed election.
The electoral fee mentioned she had gained greater than 57% of vote, together with her closest rival Panduleni Itula, getting 26%.
Following logistical issues and a three-day extension to polling in some elements of the nation, Itula mentioned the electoral course of was “deeply flawed”.
His Unbiased Patriots for Change (IPC) social gathering mentioned it could problem the leads to courtroom.
Most opposition events boycotted the outcomes announcement on Tuesday night within the capital, Windhoek, the Namibian newspaper studies.
Windhoek is reported to be calm on Wednesday, with neither celebrations nor protests and other people carrying on with their regular lives.
After the announcement of her victory, Nandi Ndaitwah mentioned: “The Namibian nation has voted for peace and stability.”
Swapo has been in energy within the massive however sparsely populated southern African nation since independence in 1990.
A celebration stalwart, Nandi-Ndaitwah, who’s at present the vice-president, is a trusted chief having served in excessive authorities workplace for 1 / 4 of a century.
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa prolonged his congratulations to Nandi-Ndaitwah on X on Wednesday.
“Your election as fifth President of the Republic and the primary lady in our area to carry this excessive workplace is a testomony to democracy and its capacity to remodel our societies,” his assertion learn.
As soon as sworn in, she is going to be part of an unique membership as in the intervening time Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu Hassan is Africa’s solely feminine president.
Within the parliamentary elections held on the identical time, Swapo narrowly held on to its majority, successful 51 of the 96 elected seats – a lack of 12. The IPC gained 20 seats, and would be the official opposition.
Tirivangani Masawi, a political journalist based mostly in Windhoek, informed the BBC Newsday programme the election was Swapo’s “worst efficiency since independence”.
A educated dentist, Itula is seen as extra charismatic than Nandi-Ndaitwah and managed to dent Swapo’s reputation within the final presidential election in 2019, decreasing its vote share to 56% from 87% 5 years earlier.
The IPC mentioned it could “pursue justice by way of the courts” and has inspired individuals who felt that that they had been unable to vote due to mismanagement by the electoral fee to go to the police to make a press release.
Claus Goldbeck, from the IPC, informed the BBC voting was an “organisational mess”.
Some folks had been despatched house after standing in line for 14 hours as a result of there weren’t sufficient poll papers, and scanners broke down at quite a few polling stations.
“The Electoral Fee of Namibia [ECN] had 4 years to sort things,” he mentioned.
The ECN admitted to failures within the organisation of the votes and poll shortages. However the chairperson, Elsie Nghikembua, denied any allegations of fraud.
“I urge all Namibians to embrace the outcomes with the spirit of unity, variety, understanding and reconciliation,” she mentioned.
Swapo led the wrestle for nationhood in opposition to apartheid South Africa. Forward of final Wednesday’s normal election there had been some hypothesis that it could undergo the destiny of different liberation events within the area.
South Africa’s African Nationwide Congress misplaced its outright parliamentary majority in Might and the Botswana Democratic Social gathering was kicked out of energy after practically six a long time following October’s election.
