The political framework of Namibia

Political Outline

Current Political Leaders

Acting President Nangolo MBUMBA (since 4 February 2024)
Acting Vice President Netumbo NANDI-NDAITWAHNOTE (since 4 February 2024)

Next Election Dates

Presidential: November 2024
National Council: November 2025
National Assembly: November 2024

Main Political Parties

Namibia has a multi-party system. The main parties are:

SWAPO (South West African People's Organisation): Centre-left (Governing party since the independence of Namibia)
Popular Democratic Movement (PDM): Centre-right
Landless People's Movement (LPM): Left-wing, social democracy
Independent Patriots for Change (IPC): Anti-corruption
United Democratic Front (UDF): Centre-left
National Unity Democratic Organisation (NUDO): Centre-right
All People's Party (APP): Centre-left
Republican Party: Conservatism
Namibian Economic Freedom Fighters (NEFF): Far-left, Pan-African
Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP): Centre-left
Christian Democratic Voice (CDV): Christian democracy
Workers Revolutionary Party (WRP): Left-wing
South West African National Union (SWANU): Social democracy.

Executive Power

Executive power is exercised by the government. The President of Namibia is both chief of state and head of the executive power. The president is elected in a national election every five years in which at least 50% of the votes are necessary to be elected. The Cabinet consists of the President, the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministers appointed by the President. The Prime Minister is the Chief Advisor to the President and the overall coordinator of the Government Offices, Ministries and Agencies.

Legislative Power

Legislative power is vested in the Parliament, which consists of two chambers: The National Assembly is the highest law-making body and is composed of 96 elected and 8 non-voting members appointed by the President. Members of the Assembly are elected every five years on a proportional representation system basis. The National Council is the upper chamber of Parliament and is formed of 42 representatives from all fourteen regions of Namibia (three elected members per region). Members of the National Council are indirectly elected within Regional Councils and serve a five-year term. The National Council primarily reviews legislation passed and referred by the National Assembly.

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

Definition

Definition:

The world rankings, published annually, measures violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position are assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire incorporating the main criteria (44 in total) to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. This questionnaire was sent to partner organisations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).

World Rank:: 24/180

Indicator of Political Freedom

Definition

Definition:

The Indicator of Political Freedom provides an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in a country as experienced by individuals. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights questions (on Electoral Process, Political Pluralism and Participation, Functioning of Government) and 15 civil liberties questions (on Freedom of Expression, Belief, Associational and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights). Scores are awarded to each of these questions on a scale of 0 to 4, where a score of 0 represents the smallest degree and 4 the greatest degree of rights or liberties present. The total score awarded to the political rights and civil liberties checklist determines the political rights and civil liberties rating. Each rating of 1 through 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of freedom, corresponds to a range of total scores.

Ranking:: Free
Political Freedom:: 2/7

Political freedom in the world (interactive map)
Source: Freedom in the World Report, Freedom House

Any Comment About This Content? Report It to Us.

Trade FiguresPrevious

NextCovid-19