Namibia
Namibian President to resign voluntarily in 2005

afrol News, 20 February - The Namibian ruling party, SWAPO, today confirmed that President Sam Nujoma will not seek re-election in the 2005 polls. A renewed candidacy by Mr Nujoma, which has been suggested earlier, would have meant amending the constitution and could have sparked political instability.

President Sam Nujoma and his most loyal followers have been seeing how the land lies regarding the possibilities of a forth presidential term. Mr Nujoma has ruled Namibia since independence from the South African apartheid regime in 1990 and has been accused of growing more authoritarian during the last years.

SWAPO Secretary-General Ngarikutuke Tjiriange told independent daily 'The Namibian' yesterday that the ruling party's Congress decision remained despite calls by some traditional leaders for President Sam Nujoma to stand for another term. "The Congress decision still stands," said Mr Tjiriange. 

Mr Tjiriange further informed there were no politicians throwing their weight behind a call to amend the constitution to enable Mr Nujoma's re-election. There were only citizens "exercising their democratic right" by demanding a fourth term for Mr Nujoma. "Tomorrow there could also be people demanding for him to step down," he added, saying the party leadership would not be influenced by this.

The more the 2005 poll is approaching, the less probable it seems that President Nujoma will be presented as the official SWAPO candidate. His re-election would be a time-consuming process, firstly, because it would demand the party to unite on such a controversial matter. 

Experiences from neighbouring Zambia demonstrate this is material that can provoke the split of a ruling party. Further, a time-consuming constitution amendment process is needed, which would need the support of the entire party. 

The official SWAPO line is now that the current constitution must be followed and that another candidate will be presented to the polls in two years. According to a ruling party Congress decision, there is to be organised an extraordinary congress next year "with a view to addressing the question of [Mr Nujoma's] succession." This is now confirmed by Mr Tjiriange.

The President himself has not made a statement surrounding the issue since April 2001. At that point, he told journalist Frauke Roeschlau that "if the Namibian people say that we want you to do this I am always at the disposal of the Namibian people." Constitutional guidelines however had to be followed, he added.

The Namibian constitution basically allows for only two presidential terms, something Mr Nujoma said he would fully respect after SWAPO's landslide win in the 1994 elections, which was the first time President Nujoma was re-elected. Before the year 2000 poll, he however changed his mind, and after a heavy debate within SWAPO, the constitution was amended to allow three terms for Namibia's founding President. 

SWAPO maintains a very strong position in Namibia after having led decades of struggle for independence, fighting the internationally condemned South African occupation of Namibia. Much of today's opposition is rooted in the era of white minority rule, supervised by South Africa's apartheid government. Given this legacy, President Nujoma still enjoys an enormous popularity and would stand good chances to be re-elected.

The question of constitution amendments to allow incumbent presidents to get elected on and on again has polarised much of Southern Africa during the last years. Several countries have experienced political instability as heads of state refuse to hand over power when their time is out. Robert Mugabe, ruling Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, is the most known but not the only example.

In poverty-ridden Malawi, President Bakili Muluzi has thrown the country into several political crises to change the constitutional provisions prohibiting more than two presidential terms before elections are to be held next year. Mr Muluzi originally was hailed as a democrat and liberator when he took over from lifetime President and dictator Hastings Banda in 1994. 

In Zambia, President Fredrick Chiluba met massive resistance when also he tried to amend the constitution in 2001, allowing him to run for another term. Mr Chiluba only backed down after the question caused a split in his ruling party. Also in Madagascar, President Didier Ratsiraka's unwillingness to accept election defeat lead to turmoil last year. 

Mozambique and President Joaquim Chissano however constitute a decent exception to this regional problem. The popular President last year announced he would not be a candidate in the 2004 elections "in respect of the constitution."

Partly based on an article by Max Hamata in the independent daily 'The Namibian', Windhoek (Namibia). Distributed through Misanet (Windhoek). 

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