National Assembly (Namibia)

The National Assembly is the lower chamber of Namibia's bicameral Parliament. Its laws must be approved by the National Council, the upper house. Since 2014, it has a total of 104 members. 96 members are directly elected through a system of closed list proportional representation and serve five-year terms.[2] Eight additional members are appointed by the President. Since 2015, SWAPO member Peter Katjavivi has been the Speaker of the National Assembly.[3]

National Assembly
7th National Assembly
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
History
Founded21 March 1990[1]
Leadership
Peter Katjavivi, SWAPO
since 21 March 2015
Loide Kasingo, SWAPO
since 21 March 2010
Structure
Seats104
Political groups
Government (71)
  SWAPO (63)
  Appointed members (8)
Official opposition (16)
  PDM (16)
Other parties (17)
  LPM (4)
  NUDO (2)
  APP (2)
  UDF (2)
  RP (2)
  NEFF (2)
  RDP (1)
  CDV (1)
  SWANU (1)
Length of term
5 years
Elections
Closed list proportional representation and appointments by the President
Last election
27 November 2019
Meeting place
Tintenpalast, Windhoek, Khomas Region, Namibia
Website
Parliament of Namibia

Namibia's National Assembly emerged on Independence Day on 21 March 1990 from the Constituent Assembly of Namibia, following the elections of November 1989. That election, following guidelines established by the United Nations, included foreign observers in an effort to ensure a free and fair election process. The current National Assembly was formed following elections on 27 November 2019.

2019 elections edit

Party Votes % Seats +/–
SWAPO 536,861 65.5 63 –14
Popular Democratic Movement 136,576 16.6 16 +11
Landless People's Movement 38,956 4.7 4 New
National Unity Democratic Organisation 16,066 1.9 2 0
All People's Party 14,664 1.8 2 0
United Democratic Front 14,644 1.8 2 0
Republican Party 14,546 1.8 2 +1
Namibian Economic Freedom Fighters 13,580 1.7 2 +2
Rally for Democracy and Progress 8,953 1.1 1 –2
Christian Democratic Voice 5,841 0.7 1 +1
SWANU 5,330 0.6 1 0
Congress of Democrats 4,645 0.6 0 0
National Democratic Party 4,559 0.6 0 0
Workers Revolutionary Party 3,212 0.4 0 –2
National Patriotic Front 1,785 0.2 0 New
Invalid/blank votes 0
Total 820,227 100 96
Registered voters/turnout 1,358,468 60.4
Source: ECN

Previous National Assembly election results edit

Political party Election Year
1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014
South-West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) 41 53 55 55 54 77
Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) - - - - 8 3
Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) 21 15 7 4 2 5
United Democratic Front (UDF) 4 2 2 3 2 2
National Unity Democratic Organization (NUDO) - - - 3 2 2
Congress of Democrats (COD) - - 7 5 1 0
Republican Party (RP) - - - 1 1 1
South West Africa National Union (SWANU) - 0 0 0 1 1
All People’s Party (APP) - - - - 1 2
Monitor Action Group (MAG) - 1 1 1 0 0
Democratic Coalition of Namibia (DCN) - 1 0 - - -
Federal Convention of Namibia (FCN) 1 0 0 - - -
Action Christian National (ACN) 3 - - - - -
Namibia Patriotic Front (NPF) 1 - - - - -
Namibia National Front (NNF) 1 - - - - -
Total 72 72 72 72 72 96

Despite being a one party dominant state since its independence in 1990, Namibian elections have been transparent, free, and largely fair.[3][4]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "1st National Assembly: 1990 - 1995". Archived from the original on 2020-03-22. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  2. ^ "Namibia". 5 July 2018.
  3. ^ a b "How to Register as a Voter". Electoral Commission of Namibia. Archived from the original on July 21, 2018. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  4. ^ "Namibia Rebel Group Wins Vote, But It Falls Short of Full Control". The New York Times. 15 November 1989. Retrieved 2014-06-20.

External links edit