Windhoek — Legend has it, the famous line from the musical Evita was uttered by the equally infamous Che Guevara. Whether that is true or whether it is just a glib remark put in Guevara's mouth by Andrew Lloyd Webber, I do not know. But what is certain, is that it applies to any third world country where governance rests on pretence and rhetoric.

By now, the elections have turned into the non-event of the year thanks in no small measure to the snail's pace at which the electoral commission is processing the events of last weekend. The anticipation is gone. Life goes on as usual and whether Swapo retains its two-thirds majority is sort of a side issue. But with only 59 out of a 107 constituencies available by Thursday evening, the trend is clear - Swapo is winning with a landslide majority just as I predicted they will. However, the question of the two-thirds majority was still very much in the balance at my last tally.

Politics are akin to economics in one important aspect: you cannot ignore the fundamentals indefinitely. So it does not require an inside track, or insightful political analysis to know that Swapo has nothing to fear from any current or future opposition for many years to come. But if indeed it does eventually turn out that it has missed the two-thirds majority, then one can truly say a significant shift has occurred in the political landscape and that it opens the door for many positive changes in direction of Namibia's overall political direction.

Browsing through the results as they became available on the ECN website, a picture emerged of a rock solid Swapo base in Owambo, as I expected, but there are several flyers in the statistics indicating that it may not be as rock-solid as Swapo wants it to be. For instance, a very rough comparison brings to light that the RDP had already passed the 1989 DTA harvest of a meagre 9000 votes, and this by a large margin. The results in some constituencies in Owambo certainly rocks the boat and given the lack of access and time to campaign, one must expect the RDP base to grow in the four O regions.

Elections results from Windhoek are just as revealing. In my mind I hear the RDP complaining about the transparency of the voting process, and about several minor possible infringements of the law but in general, I think the RDP can feel proud about the substantial inroads it has managed to make in urban constituencies. The election results also reveal that Swapo support is alive and well and living in all rural constituencies including those in the Kavango and Caprivi, but that voting in Hereroland will probably never go in Swapo's favour as much as the party would have wanted it to. Also revealing is the clear trend that the closer one moves to urban areas the bigger the proportionate share of the RDP becomes. The deeper the constituency is in the bush, the more solid its support for Swapo.

But Namibia will not remain an underdeveloped piece of wild Africa for ever and it is clear that these elections, almost 20 years to the day, after the 1989 independence elections, are showing a discernible shift in attitude. Sadly, the bouquet of other parties are disappearing from the political radar but that is also not a negative development, the way I see it. Long-term development, sustainable economic progress, prosperity for all depend on freedom and security. Earlier in the week I watched an interview with Malaysia's newly-appointed finance minister. This man was brought in from the private sector to fix a Muslim country's economy that just was not performing at full potential. I could not believe my ears. He said that after a lengthy consultation process and a period of strategising, it became very clear that corruption, crime, education and health are the four key issues to address before any country can expect foreign investment to start making a difference to the overall development of its population.

I could hardly believe my ears. What he said is so fundamentally true but it is also very significant that the think tank and policy vehicle of which he is a team member did not come up with industrial and technological solutions or requirements but with human and social issues. It was almost as if he was referring to Namibia.

So I hope Swapo enjoys the pleasure of another political victory. I hope the RDP stays with its quest realising its presence does not distract from stability and progress but rather contributes to it. And I really hope that as we move into our third decade of independence, some tyrant clown does not ruin the country but has the political maturity to know that diversity brings strength. It is not a calamity. We all fight for the same goals.