A Namibian judge has permitted two opposition parties in Namibia to examine electoral papers they had requested in order to contest the outcome of last month’s polls.
On November 27, Namibia’s ruling party, SWAPO, extended its 34-year control in the southern African nation by winning both the presidential and parliamentary elections.
Opposition parties, among other things, claimed that the election was faulty and perhaps void because of a multi-day voting extension.
“There were irregularities in the election. IPC seeks the information to… determine the extent of the irregularities,” the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), the largest opposition party, said in a court filing seen by Reuters.
“It also enables IPC to consider whether to launch proceedings concerning the validity of the elections,” it said.
The Landless People’s Movement, another opposition group, joined the IPC’s proposal.
Following a Friday morning hearing, Namibia’s electoral court directed the electoral commission to furnish the parties with election-related information for their review, including the total number of votes cast and counted at each polling station each day.
The commission had to deliver the statistics the next week.
Voting was postponed for up to three days in certain locations due to technological difficulties and a scarcity of ballot paper during the election.
“I am not even listening to those critics,” said President-elect Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah in her victory address last week, dismissing claims that the election was tainted.
The election was free and fair, according to the Electoral Commission. The nation’s first female president, Nandi-Ndaitwah is scheduled to assume office in March.