Namibia’s Swapo leads preliminary poll result
Namibia’s Swapo leads preliminary poll results
Namibia’s Swapo leads preliminary poll results
Namibia's ruling party looks set to
win Africa's first electronic election, according to a second round of
preliminary results.
Namibia has one of Africa's
healthiest economies and SWAPO, the former liberation movement that secured
independence from South Africa, has maintained its popular support although
dissent is growing over inequality and a lack of housing.
With slightly more than half of
votes counted, the South-West Africa People's Organisation party - in power
since 1990 - was leading the polls with 77%.
In the booth on Friday, voters found
a grey electronic device with pictures or logos of the candidates and a green
button next to each one. Instead of marking a cross on paper, voters selected
their choice by pressing the button.
SWAPO's candidate for president,
Hage Geingob, received 86% of votes in a presidential election also held on
Friday.
Geingob, who served twice as prime
minister in the former German colony rich in diamonds and uranium, faced eight
challengers.
On Saturday, the Electoral
Commission of Namibia (ECN) had released a first round of preliminary data
putting Swapo in the lead with slightly more than 66% of the vote.
Namibia is aiming to become the
world's second-largest uranium producer after Kazakhstan with the construction
of its Chinese-backed Husab mine, expected to start production in 2015.
The sparsely populated, southern
African state has been one of the world's best performing economies and growth
is forecast to rise to 5 percent in 2014 from 4.4 percent last year. But lower
metal prices, especially for its key export uranium, poses a risk, according to
Namibia's central bank.
