Presidential, National Assembly & Regional Assembly 2009

Description of Electoral System:

The President is the Head of State and Government. The President is elected through direct universal adult suffrage by and absolute majority and is restricted to two terms of office of five years each. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President, but may be removed by National Assembly through a vote of no confidence.

The National Assembly is the primary legislative body and consists of 72 voting members directly elected in a single constituency proportional representation system (with no minimum entry threshold). The President may nominate up to six non-voting members. The National Council has the limited legislative function of reviewing bills, recommending changes and proposing legislation on regional matters. It is comprised of two members elected by each of the 13 Regional Councils. The term of the two houses is five years.

Electoral Systems Snapshot

(Courtesy of International IDEA)

*Click on links for definitions

WANT MORE ELECTION RELATED STATS FOR NAMIBIA? Go to "election databases" on the left-hand menu of this page OR comparative data on the right-hand menu and choose your area of interest.

Politics of Namibia

Namibia became independent of South Africa in 1990 after an extended and bitter military struggle. Its independence followed on elections in 1989 which were supervised by United Nations Transitional Assistance Group (UNTAG) and other international observers. The South West African People’s Organisation (SWAPO) that had led the liberation struggle won the elections convincingly and emerged as the dominant political party. The South African colonial government had searched for moderates among the Namibian political leaders and groups to counter SWAPO and this led to the emergence of such political parties as Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA) which became the main opposition party. Five other small parties were represented in the Constituent Assembly. The final constitution produced entrenched democratic principles, respect for human rights and political plurality.

Successive elections have seen the SWAPO consolidate and grow its support amongst the electorate, from 57.3% of the vote in 1989 to 76.1% in the 2004 national Assembly election. The DTA’s support by contrast has declined from 28.6% to 5.1% over the same period and has begun to fragment. The increased dominance by SWAPO has been accompanied by the splintering of the opposition, so that none of the opposition parties in the 2004 National Assembly election obtained even 10% of the vote.

Previous elections

DID YOU KNOW? Namibia has amended its constitution only once since its adoption in 1990.

 In the presidential election of 2004 Hifikepunye Pohamba, of SWAPO won 76.4% of the votes, followed by Benjamin Ulenga, of Congress of Democrats (CoD) with 7.3% then Katuutire Kaura of DTA by 5.12%. The remaining 11.16 % was shared by four other candidates (For more details see: 2004 Presidential Results).

In the concurrent National Assembly election SWAPO Party won 76.11% of the vote, the CoD won 7.29%, the DTA 5.11%, National Unity Democratic Organisation 4.15%, the United Democratic Front 3.60%. A further four parties shared the remaining 3.74%, two of who obtained a seat each (For more details see: 2004 National Assembly results).

Next elections