DARK clouds of anxiety, frustration and confusion hung over most parts of Namibia late yesterday as the Electoral Commission of Namibia failed to release any official election results on the first day after the polls closed in Namibia's fourth post-Independence Presidential and National Assembly elections.

Some results of the Presidential and National Assembly elections were expected to be released as from midnight.

At the time of going to press yesterday evening not one official result, not even from the smallest constituency, had been announced.

From the unconfirmed preliminary results The Namibian received, it appears that Namibia could have a new official opposition in the name of Rally for Democracy and Progress.

The RDP has outperformed other opposition parties at most of the polling stations in urban areas and the trend was most likely to continue today.

What was also evident from the unconfirmed results is that some of the smaller parties are struggling.

Of the 27 314 votes counted (unofficially) by 20h00 last night, Swapo had taken 16 746 or 61 per cent compared to 5 378 or 20 per cent for the RDP.

The unofficial results for the presidential race had President Hifikepunye Pohamba at 6 879 or 53 per cent against 3 808 or 29 per cent of RDP's Hidipo Hamutenya. However, that was for only 13 103 votes and also unofficial.

Election officials kept on postponing the deadline for the first official results to be released and failed to provide acceptable or consistent reasons for the late release.

First it was 11h00, then 14h30, then midnight.

By yesterday afternoon Elections Director Moses Ndjarakana said there was "no indication yet" when asked whether some results would be out by midnight.

At some polling stations, where results had been posted at the front door, they were subsequently removed. In some cases recounts were ordered.

According to election officials, the process was slow because they were taking time to count, check and reconcile votes before sending them to the constituency verification centre from where they were supposed to be posted to the main results centre in Windhoek.

Early unofficial results circulating yesterday indicated that the ruling Swapo Party appeared set to score a handsome but not unexpected victory, with a relatively healthy showing in certain areas by the RDP.

From the results at four polling stations in Keetmanshoop (Magistrate Court, TransNamib, Show Hall and WAD Centre) the RDP just edged Swapo - with 991 votes against Swapo's 929.

At Swakopmund, The Namibian was able to get results from three polling stations (International Youth Hostel, Hanganeni Primary School in DRC and Tamariskia Primary School).

From the three polling stations Swapo collected 2 397 votes against the 970 of RDP.

If the trends emerging in the early results are repeated countrywide, Swapo's only strong challenge is likely to be from the RDP and its leader, Hidipo Hamutenya.

Although it was difficult to predict the outcome because of the limited results available, initial indications appear to point to both the DTA of Namibia and the Congress of Democrats losing a number of seats in the National Assembly.

The smaller opposition parties, like the Republican Party, Monitor Action Group, Namibia Democratic Movement for Change, Democratic Party of Namibia, Communist Party, and National Democratic Party of Namibia appeared to have fragmented the vote to the extent that they could struggle to get even a single seat.

As expected the All People's Party performed well in the Kavango Region and even managed to gallop across the line ahead of others like the RDP and the CoD at some polling stations.

The same can also be said about Justus //Garoeb and the UDF.

The first unofficial result from their stronghold came out of Okomhabe where they are clear winners ahead of Swapo.

However, the ruling Swapo Party seemed to have kept their base in the populous northern areas and, if no serious challenge appears from RDP there, might well increase its seats in Parliament.