Petronella Sibeene
8 September 2008
Windhoek — Opposition parties have held a series of meetings to discuss issues of common concern, particularly the possible revision of the Electoral Act as the country gears up for the 2009 elections.
The parties have agreed to jointly submit recommendations from these meetings to Government for possible consideration.
New Era sought comment from Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) on recent media reports that suggested the party has been mobilizing other opposition parties to form a coalition.
RDP interim Secretary General Jesaya Nyamu dismissed the reports, saying "that was a statement of someone's imagination".
He however revealed that RDP has been discussing with other political parties issues of democracy especially on how the Electoral Act in Namibia can be improved.
Nyamu says the Electoral Act as it is does not fully conform to the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and Africa Union (AU) guidelines.
He was referring to the transport of ballot boxes to other identified areas for vote counting after people have voted.
"Counting should take place where the elections have taken place," he said.
Although he did not elaborate, Nyamu said discussions during the meetings also centered on attacks on opposition party members.
"We are likely to jointly submit to Government and maybe also to the Electoral Commission of Namibia, a report on matters related to the Electoral Act," Nyamu reiterated.
He declined to mention political parties that have exceptions to the existing Act.
When contacted for comment, Congress of Democrats (CoD) leader Ben Ulenga said his party was not part of these talks. Other opposition parties declined to comment.
Secretary General of the Repu-blican Party (RP) Thartisius Gaeseb confirmed that the parties have held meetings and more are yet to take place.
"We attended the meeting but not all (it is a series) and we concur with others on the revision of the Electoral Act and generally issues related to elections," he said.
Expressing the same view as RDP, Gaeseb said, "There should not be transportation of ballot boxes elsewhere because that will be tantamount to allegations of rigging. Counting and announcements should be done at the station of voting."
According to Gaeseb, opposition parties have noted that some voters have more than one voter's card, thus registration of voters should take place as part of preparations for next year's elections.
The ruling party Swapo in April announced the beginning of that party's monthly campaigns in all constituencies in preparation for the 2009 elections.
"The aim is to capture 71 seats," Swapo Secretary for Information and Mobilisation Jerry Ekandjo said earlier as the party prepared to celebrate 48 years of existence in April this year.
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