Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Werner Menges
Published on 2024-03-28 13:30:19
Two former members of parliament from the United People’s Movement (UPM) are awaiting a decision in three weeks on their legal challenge to the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) for their removal from the National Assembly. The UPM, along with former parliamentarians Jan van Wyk and Frans Bertolini, have filed an urgent application against the PDM, seeking to have their withdrawal declared unconstitutional and invalid.
The judgement on this matter has been postponed by Judge Boas Usiku to April 19, following oral arguments presented in the Windhoek High Court. The UPM, Van Wyk, and Bertolini are demanding that the PDM’s decision to remove them from the National Assembly on March 5 be deemed unconstitutional and invalid. They also seek to invalidate the swearing-in of PDM members Loide Iipinge and Katrina Benz as members of the National Assembly, and request that Van Wyk and Bertolini be reinstated as assembly members.
Van Wyk and Bertolini were elected to the National Assembly through the PDM’s candidate list as part of a cooperation agreement between the UPM and PDM before the 2019 national elections. The PDM’s secretary general, Manuel Ngaringombe, stated in a sworn affidavit that the decision to remove Van Wyk and Bertolini was made after the UPM formed an alliance with the National Empowerment Fighting Corruption (NEFC) and endorsed Ally Angula as a presidential candidate in the upcoming elections.
According to Ngaringombe, the UPM’s actions constituted a breach of trust towards the PDM, as they were now aligned with two opposing political parties simultaneously. Van Wyk countered these claims by stating that the alliance agreement between the UPM and PDM did not grant the PDM the authority to remove UPM members from the National Assembly in the event of a breach. He also highlighted that the agreement focused on the 2019 presidential election and did not address support for a candidate in 2024.
Van Wyk argued that the UPM’s new alliance with the NEFC did not impact their existing agreement with the PDM. He further pointed out that according to the agreement, any vacancies in the National Assembly among joint PDM and UPM candidates should be filled by the respective party. With Iipinge and Benz replacing Van Wyk and Bertolini, the UPM currently lacks representation in the assembly.
As the legal battle continues, the outcome of this case will have significant implications for the UPM, PDM, and the functioning of the National Assembly. The court’s decision on the constitutionality of the PDM’s actions and the reinstatement of Van Wyk and Bertolini will shape the future dynamics of Namibian politics.
Read the original article on The Namibian
