Ten Parties Forfeit Election Deposits

ALL but two political parties that took part in last week's presidential election have lost their deposit of N$10 000 after failing to garner enough votes.

The Electoral Commission of Namibia will hand over around N$100 000 in lost deposits paid by political parties to the Ministry of Finance after they failed to get the prescribed percentage of votes in the presidential poll.

Only Swapo candidate President Hifikepunye Pohamba (76,42 per cent) and Rally for Democracy and Progress leader Hidipo Hamutenya (11,08 per cent) had enough votes for their parties to qualify for a refund.

Political parties pay N$5 000 for registration with the ECN and another N$10 000 for their presidential candidates to contest.

Their poor showing at the polls have added insult to injury in that they must now forfeit the N$10 000.

The payment and risk of losing the N$10 000 was one of the reasons why the Monitor Action Group did not contest the presidential race.

However, other smaller parties like the Democratic Party of Namibia, Communist Party and Namibia Democratic Movement for Change entered even though there was hardly any chance of them collecting enough votes to get the deposit back.

According to results posted on the ECN website, Pohamba and Hamutenya were followed at a distant third by the DTA's Katuutire Kaura with 2,88 per cent of the vote.

While 14 political parties contested the National Assembly election, not all of them chose to go for the presidential race, as MAG and the National Democratic Party preferred to try their luck only in the parliamentary election.

The deposits were introduced to discourage chancers from contesting elections they would lose. (All AFRICA)