The Namibia Institute for Democracy has observed the recent national and
presidential elections through the deployment of close to 300 domestic
observers countrywide. The NID's findings were informed by reports received
from these observers, who were trained by the NID throughout 2009 to observe

the pre-election, election and post-election phase in a non-partisan manner.
The NID conducted its activities in accordance with the laws of the Republic
of Namibia and the Principles for Election Management, Monitoring and
Observation in the SADC Region.

The enthusiasm of Namibians to vote during the two-day polling process in an
orderly and peaceful manner, the wide deployment of national and
international observers who had free access to polling stations during
polling and counting and the professional non-partisan manner in which the
Namibian Police and security forces conducted their duties were commendable,
and contributed to a peaceful, free and fair polling process.

Unfortunately, problematic issues relating to the often inept performance of
some ECN officials, problems with the voters roll and the system of counting
and verification of ballots, exacerbated by the large number of tendered
ballots, led to the announcement of the final election results only a week
after polls closed. This casts a shadow over what otherwise could have been
exemplary elections and may now lead to the non-acceptance of results by the
biggest opposition political parties, which is regrettable. Logistical and
organisational deficiencies of the ECN in organising the elections are a
matter of concern.

The NID will, however, discuss options and solutions to
areas of concern as detected by its observers with the ECN and other
relevant stakeholders at an opportune time. The relatively low voter
turnout in some constituencies is a matter of concern, which the NID will
investigate further in 2010 through the conduct of a study on voter
motivation.

The ruling party was able to confirm its two-thirds majority and Namibia
therefore remains in the category of a "dominant party state". Given the
fact that the Rally for Democracy and Progress [RDP] was for the first time
competing in general elections with other parties, the election result,
which has elevated the party to the strongest opposition force, places the
pressure on the party to deliver on promises made to earn its status as
official opposition and not fade into early insignificance.

An accurate and complete assessment of any election must take into account
all aspects of the process, and no election can be viewed in isolation from
the political context in which it takes place. Among the factors that will
be considered to be included into the NID's final and detailed elections
observation report due in January 2010 are issues such as the legal
framework for the elections, the ability of citizens to seek and receive
sufficient and accurate information upon which to make political choices,
the ability of political competitors to organize and reach out to citizens
in order to win their support, the conduct of the mass media in providing
coverage of candidates and issues, the freedom that citizens and political
competitors have to engage in the political and electoral process without
fear of intimidation, violence or retribution for their choices, the conduct
of the voter registration process, the right to stand for election, the
conduct of voting, counting, transmission and announcement of results, the
handling of election complaints and the installation to office of those duly
elected. It should also be noted that no electoral framework is perfect,
and all electoral and political processes experience challenges.

The NID is grateful for the welcome and cooperation it received from voters,
election officials, candidates, political party leaders, the media, domestic
and international election observers, and civic activists.

The complete detailed report on the observation of the national elections by
the NID and its coalition partners will be released and disseminated in
January 2010.

NID