GOVERNMENT
Namibia is a multiparty, multiracial democracy, with a president who is elected for 5-year term. The constitution establishes a bicameral Parliament and provides for general elections every 5 years and regional elections every 6 years. Members of the 72-seat National Assembly are elected on a party list system on a proportional basis. Members of the 26-seat National Council are elected from within popularly elected Regional Councils. The three branches of government are subject to checks and balances, and provision is made for judicial review. The judicial structure in Namibia largely parallels that of South Africa and comprises a Supreme Court, the High Court, and lower courts. Roman-Dutch law has been the common law of the territory since 1919. Namibia's unitary government is currently in the process of decentralization.
The constitution
provides for the private ownership of property and for human rights
protections, and states that Namibia should have a mixed economy
and encourage foreign investment.
Sam Nujoma, leader of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), was President from Namibia's independence in 1990 until 2005. In November 2004, citizens elected Minister of Lands, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Hifikepunye Pohamba to be the next President. Pohamba was inaugurated in March 2005 in conjunction with celebrations marking the country's fifteenth anniversary. International and domestic observers agreed the 2004 elections were generally free and well administered despite some irregularities. Pohamba was elected President with 76.4% of the vote. SWAPO won 55 of the 72 elected seats in the National Assembly. Six opposition parties won a total of 17 seats, including the Congress of Democrats party, which won the largest number of opposition votes; the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance; the National Unity Democratic Organization; the United Democratic Front; the Republican Party; and the Monitor Action Group. A new political party, the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP), was established in late 2007 and a number of high-profile individuals left SWAPO to join the RDP in late 2007-early 2008.
Principal
Government Officials
President--Hifikepunye Pohamba
Prime Minister--Nahas Angula
Deputy Prime Minister--Libertina Amathila
Ambassador to UN--Kaire Mbuende
Ambassador to U.S.--Patrick Nandago
Namibia
maintains an embassy in the United States at 1605 New Hampshire
Ave., NW, Washington DC 20009 (tel: (202) 986-0540; fax: (202)
986-0443).
Type:
Republic.
Independence: March 21, 1990.
Branches: Executive--president (elected for 5-year
term), prime minister. Legislative--bicameral Parliament: National
Assembly and National Council. Judicial--Supreme Court, the High
Court, and lower courts.
Subdivisions: 13 administrative regions.
Major political parties: South West Africa People's
Organization (SWAPO), Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA), United
Democratic Front of Namibia (UDF), Congress of Democrats (COD),
Monitor Action Group (MAG).
Suffrage: Universal adult.
