Namibia's ruling South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) has won a landslide victory in the country's presidential and national assembly elections heldon Nov. 15-16, ensuring it another five years in power to make a total of 20 years.

Results announced by the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) Sunday show that SWAPO's presidential candidate, Hifikepunye Pohamba, took 625,605 votes, or 76.4 percent of the 818,360 valid votes cast.

The best performer of the six opposition parties, Benjamin Ulenga, from the Congress of Democrats (COD), only managed to get 59,547 votes, or 7.3 percent.

SWAPO is also to retain its 55 seats in the 72-seat parliament,as it garnered 619,066 votes in the parliamentary elections, or 75 percent of the 827,042 valid votes.

Further to its advantage, the 17 seats held by four opposition parties currently will be split between six in the next national assembly.

COD and the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA), each holding 7 seats now, will have only five and four seats, respectively, in the new parliament.

The presidential and national assembly elections both registered a voters turnout of 85 percent, the highest among all the three general elections held since Namibia's independence from the South African apartheid regime in 1990.

Various parties, including the ECN, the ruling and opposition parties as well as observers from African Union and southern African countries have described the elections as generally free and fair.

"The election process was free and fair, without any incidents or intimidation," said Katuutire Kaura, the losing presidential candidate of DTA.

ECN Chairman V. L Tonchi said his organization "is of the opinion that the 2004 presidential and national assembly elections were free, fair and transparent."

"The commission is further convinced that the final results of the elections reflect the will of the Namibian electorate," he said.

Namibian President Sam Nujoma said the successful conduct of the third major elections since independence proves that "democracy has grown a deep root in Namibia."

Observers have also described the elections as historical, as Nujoma will retire next March after ruling the southwest African country for 15 years since its independence.

Graham Hopwood, a researcher from the Institute for Public Policy Research, attributed SWAPO's victory to its role in Namibia's independence, and its achievement in bringing peace, stability and prosperity to Namibia over the years, as it stands out today as one of the richest and most peaceful and stable countries on the African continent.

SWAPO's broad membership and wide grassroots organizations, as well as its extensive elections campaign also paid off, he said.

In comparison, Hopwood said, the opposition parties had failed to reach the people in their campaigns. Their failure to form a coalition made them even weaker.

He described the election of Pohamba as a vote for continuity and stability, a gradual transition from freedom-fighters-turned leaders to politicians of a younger generation.

Source: Xinhua