It's My Party: Opposition Politics, Party Motivation and Electoral Strategy in Namibia
2014; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 40; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/03057070.2014.888901
ISSN1465-3893
Autores Tópico(s)ICT Impact and Policies
ResumoAbstractIn Namibia, opposition parties play a vitally important role in the processes by which groups are represented, institutions are legitimised and ruling elites held to account. Yet authors have so far neglected to identify and conceptualise the objectives driving opposition behaviour. Political theorists from Downs to de Swaan have argued that all parties are driven by a desire to influence policy, form a governing majority or capture ministerial office. This paper demonstrates that none of these three factors is adequate to explain party motivation in Namibia. It shows instead that most opposition parties are driven by the desire to capture a foothold in parliament and that, consequently, presidential elections are often regarded as a ‘waste’ of time and resources. This orientation is traced to three variables. First, Namibia's adoption of a distinct electoral system at each tier of government has created a powerful incentive to contest parliamentary office. This institutional factor is reinforced by two further variables. On the one hand, parliamentary representation offers the most attractive remunerative package available to an opposition politician. On the other hand, opposition parties have failed to attract private sources of finance and are, therefore, reliant upon a state funding formula linked to parliamentary representation. The resulting preoccupation with parliamentary representation has had two effects. First, Namibia's dominant-party system is strengthened by opposition politicians' lack of interest in mounting an effective challenge to it. Second, opposition parties have tended to mobilise electoral support not around multi-ethnic ‘grand alliances’, but around appeals to ethnic minority identity. Indeed, Namibia's recent proliferation of mono-ethnic parties has coincided with – and may even have reinforced – a resurgence of ethno-nationalist sentiment and concomitant decline in identification with the nation-state. AcknowledgementsThe author would like to thank Dr Nic Cheeseman and Dr Tony Lemon for their advice during the preparation of this article.Notes 1 A. Downs, An Economic Theory of Democracy (Boston, Addison-Wesley Publishing, 1957), pp. 28–31; A. de Swaan, Coalition Theories and Cabinet Formations: a Study of Formal Theories of Coalition Formation Applied to Nine European Parliaments after 1918 (Amsterdam, Elsevier, 1973), p. 88; K. Strøm and W.C. Müller, ‘Political Parties and Hard Choices’, in W.C. Müller and K. Strøm (eds), Policy, Office or Votes? How Political Parties in Western Europe Make Hard Decisions (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1999), p. 5. 2 De Swaan, Coalition Theories and Cabinet Formations, p. 88. 3 Downs, An Economic Theory, pp. 28–31. 4 Strøm and Müller, ‘Political Parties and Hard Choices’, p. 5. 5Ibid., p. 12. 6 G. Erdmann, M. Basedau and A. Mehler, ‘Introduction: Research on Electoral Systems, Parties and Party Systems in Africa’, in M. Basedau, G. Erdmann and A. Mehler (eds), Votes, Money and Violence: Political Parties and Elections in sub-Saharan Africa (Uppsala, Nordic Africa Institute, 2007), p. 8. 7 See for example: C. Manning, ‘Assessing African Party Systems after the Third Wave’, Party Politics, 11, 6 (November 2005), p. 715; N. van de Walle and K. Smiddy Butler, ‘Political Parties and Party Systems in Africa's Illiberal Democracies’, Cambridge Journal of International Affairs, 13, 1 (September 1999), p. 23. 8 H.K. Prempeh, ‘Presidents Untamed’, in L. Diamond and M.P. Plattner (eds), Democratization in Africa: Progress and Retreat (Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010), p. 26. 9 N. van de Walle, ‘Presidentialism and Clientelism in Africa's Emerging Party Systems’, Journal of Modern African Studies, 41, 2 (June 2003), p. 315.10 Staff Reporter, ‘DTA in Political Offside After 30 Years’, The Namibian, 12 November 2007.11 On the National Unity Democratic Organisation (NUDO)'s use of the genocide reparations issue, see G. Hopwood, ‘Trapped in the Past: The State of the Opposition’, in J. Hunter (ed.), Spot the Difference: Namibia's Political Parties Compared (Windhoek, Namibia Institute for Democracy, 2005), p. 128.12 Interview A, male, Congress of Democrats national executive committee member, Windhoek, 4 June 2009; Interview B, female, Congress of Democrats national executive committee member, Windhoek, 9 June 2009; W. Claassen, United Democratic Front municipal councillor, Windhoek, 30 June 2009.13 Van de Walle, ‘Presidentialism and Clientelism’, p. 315.14 Prempeh, ‘Presidents Untamed’, p. 26.15 Interview C, male, RDP national executive committee member, Windhoek, 27 May 2009.16 Republic of Namibia, Namibia Special Advisors and Regional Governors Appointment Amendment Act (No. 15) (Windhoek, Parliament of the Republic of Namibia, 2010).17 L. Cliffe et al., The Transition to Independence in Namibia (Boulder and London, Lynne Rienner, 1994), p. 266.18 D. Simon, ‘SWAPO Wins Two-Thirds Majority’, Review of African Political Economy, 22, 63 (March 1995), p. 110.19Ibid.; H. Weiland, ‘Landslide Victory for SWAPO in 1994: Many New Seats, Few New Votes’, Journal of Modern African Studies, 33, 2 (June 1995), pp. 349–50.20 G. Hopwood, Guide to Namibian Politics (Windhoek, Namibia Institute for Democracy, 2008), p. 52.21 Staff Reporter, ‘RP to Engage Government on Land Reform, Affirmative Action’, The Namibian, 22 April 2003.22Ibid., p. 60.23 O. Shivute and B. Weidlich, ‘Violence Rocks Outapi’, The Namibian, 9 November 2009.24 See, for example, All People's Party, ‘Press Briefing Statement’ (Windhoek, 2009).25 Lodge, ‘The Namibian Elections of 1999’, pp. 203–4.26 Staff Reporter, ‘Chiefs Get 4 × 4 Vehicles’, New Era, 19 November 2009.27 Interview G, male, RDP party official, Windhoek, 25 November 2009.28 A. du Pisani and W.A. Lindeke, Political Party Life in Namibia: Dominant Party with Democratic Consolidation (Windhoek, Institute for Public Policy Research, 2009), p. 13.29 See, for example, B. Weidlich, ‘Zim: Violence, What Violence, Asks Government’, The Namibian, 27 June 2008.30 Du Pisani and Lindeke, Political Party Life, p. 18.31 Afrobarometer third and fourth round results (2005 and 2009), available at: http://www.afrobarometer-online-analysis.com/aj/AJBrowserAB.jsp (2005 results); http://www.afrobarometer-online-analysis.com/aj/AJBrowserAB.jsp, (2009 results). Retrieved 14 March 2013.32 Du Pisani and Lindeke, Political Party Life, p. 18.33 P. Köllner and M. Basedau, ‘Factionalism in Political Parties: an Analytical Framework for Comparative Studies’ (Working paper no. 12, German Overseas Institute, 2005), p. 6.34 Interview with Kuaima Riruako, NUDO president, Windhoek, 6 May 2009 (emphasis added).35 C. Maletsky, ‘2003 UDF List Heads Back to Court’, The Namibian, 27 March 2008.36 Hopwood, Guide to Namibian Politics, p. 132.37 P. Kuteeue, ‘NUDO Copies SWAPO Template for Filling Top Party Posts’, The Namibian, 7 January 2004.38 When a voting district returns two elected representatives, the vote share needed to win a single seat is 50 per cent. When a voting district returns 100 elected representatives, the equivalent vote share is 1 per cent. For a discussion of the relationship between electoral system type and party system type, see M. Gallagher and P. Mitchell (eds), The Politics of Electoral Systems (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2005).39 M. Bogaards, ‘Crafting Competitive Party Systems: Electoral Laws and the Opposition in Africa’, Democratization, 7, 4 (2000), p. 169.40 Interview with Adam Isak, DPN secretary-general, Windhoek, 20 November 2009.41 C. Maletsky, ‘Ten Parties Forfeit Election Deposits’, The Namibian, 8 December 2009.42 J-F. Bayart, S. Ellis and B. Hibou, The Criminalization of the State in Africa (Oxford and Bloomington, International African Institute in association with James Currey and Indiana University Press, 1999).43 See for example: O. Haikera, ‘Tweya to be Summoned for Illegal Fencing’, The Namibian, 15 March 2013.44 World Bank, Namibia: Country Brief (Washington, DC, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank, 2009), p. 2.45 Interview with J. Nyamu, RDP secretary-general, Windhoek, 5 June 2009.46 Du Pisani and Lindeke, Political Party Life, p. 15.47 Interview D, male, journalist, Windhoek, 23 June 2009.48 T. Amupadhi, ‘Ulenga's Suspension was “Never Debated”’, The Namibian, 29 March 1999.49 S. Immanuel, ‘Politicians to get 15% Hike’, The Namibian, 4 February 2013.50 Y. Saffu, ‘The Funding of Political Parties and Election Campaigns in Africa’, in R. Austin and M. Tjernström (eds), Funding of Political Parties and Election Campaigns (Stockholm, International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, 2003), pp. 22–7.51 Hopwood, ‘Trapped in the Past’, p. 138.52Ibid.53 M. Boer, ‘The Life of the Party: The Hidden Role of Money in Namibian Politics’ (Windhoek, Institute for Public Policy Research, 2004), p. 4.54 Hopwood, ‘Trapped in the Past’, p. 138.55 K. Kangueehi, ‘CoD Fights Over Cheque Again’, New Era, 7 October 2008.56 Hopwood, Guide to Namibian Politics, p. 25.57 T. Lodge, ‘The Namibian Elections of 1999’, Democratization, 8, 2 (summer 2000), p. 204; Interview E, male, RDP national executive committee member, Windhoek, 3 June 2009.58 Interview F, male, civil society activist, Windhoek, 24 June 2009; interview D, male, journalist, Windhoek, 23 June 2009.59 Interview with U. Maamberua, SWANU president, 26 June 2009, Windhoek.Additional informationNotes on contributorsIan CooperIan CooperSt John's College, St Giles', Oxford, OX1 3JP. E-mail:ian_d_cooper@hotmail.com
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