Windhoek, Namibia – (AFP) – Namibia’s main opposition party aims to file a legal challenge on December 23 against the results of last month’s disputed election won by the ruling SWAPO party, it said Saturday.
The Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) has already said it does not recognise the results of the controversially extended November election that gave SWAPO 57 percent of the presidential vote, setting up its candidate, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, to become Namibia’s first woman president.
A court on Friday agreed to a request by the IPC to inspect the tallies of votes cast and counted during the election that was scheduled for November 27 but ended up running until November 30 after a series of logistical and technical failures.
“The order granted is to permit the IPC to inspect the required documentation in preparation for the main application to be filed on the 23rd December 2024,” IPC spokesperson Imms Nashinge told AFP.
“On the 23rd, we will be filing for the main contention of the elections that took place on 27 November that was subsequently extended,” added IPC secretary general Christine Aochamus.
The court ruling says that the national election authority must allow IPC representatives access to the vote tallies over two days next week and in the presence of police and election officials. The smaller opposition Landless People’s Movement was given similar access.
The election authority has admitted to an array of problems on the first day of the vote, including a shortage of ballot papers and malfunctioning electronic tablets, that led to long delays and queues of up to 12 hours, which some voters abandoned.
The IPC, which the election authority said came second in the presidential ballot with 25.5 percent, has alleged this was a deliberate attempt to suppress ballots by frustrating voters.
© Agence France-Presse
