Republican Party (Namibia)

The Republican Party (German: Republikanische Partei) is a political party in Namibia, based among the white minority.[2] Henk Mudge was its President and its sole representative in the National Assembly. Prior to the 2004 parliamentary election, the Republican Party was part of the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA). It was revived as an independent party in 2003, and won 1.9% of popular votes and 1 National Assembly seat.

Republican Party
AbbreviationRP
PresidentHenk Mudge
ChairpersonVacant
Deputy ChairpersonTartisius Gaeseb
Secretary GeneralGert Jansen
FounderDirk Mudge
Founded5 October 1977 (1977-10-05)
HeadquartersWindhoek
Khomas Region
IdeologyConservatism
Christian democracy[1]
ColorsBlue, Yellow, White, and Green
                   
Seats in the National Assembly
2 / 104
Seats in the National Council
0 / 42
Regional Councillors
0 / 121
Local Councillors
0 / 378
Pan-African Parliament
0 / 5
Namibia
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Namibia

The Republican Party was founded by Dirk Mudge in 1977[3] and joined the DTA in the same year.[3][4] In mid-2003, the Republican Party revived itself as an independent organization.[4] Hardap Region Governor Pieter Boltman resigned as party leader, opposing the party's moves to separate itself from the DTA, in July 2003, and he was succeeded by Henk Mudge,[5] Dirk Mudge's son.[3] DTA President Katuutire Kaura denounced the moves to separate the Republican Party from the DTA, saying that Mudge acted unilaterally and illegally. Kaura claimed that Mudge wanted to create a party solely for "previously advantaged" minority Namibians,[4] but Mudge denied that the Republican Party would be a party exclusively for whites.[5]

Mudge stood as the Republican Party's candidate in the November 2004 presidential election, receiving 1.95% of the vote and placing sixth.[6] Mudge stood again for the Presidency in the 2009 election, where he gained 9,425 votes (1.16%), finishing seventh overall. He was re-elected as the party's leader to the National Assembly.

In September 2010, the Republican Party was reported to have begun the process of merging with the Rally for Democracy and Progress, the country's largest opposition party.[7] Henk Mudge then announced that he would resign from Parliament on 14 October 2010 and confirmed the disbanding of the Republican Party.[8] In the event he did not resign as a National Assembly member and party president until March 2011.[9] Teacher and party chairperson Clara Gowases was appointed in his place and gave her initial speech to the National Assembly in April of that year.[10] According to a later interview with Mudge, some Republican Party members were elected to local councils with RDP support at this time.[11]

The merger plan was apparently revived in 2013[12] and again early in 2014.[13] During the 2014 presidential election, Mudge initially urged party members to vote for Hage Geingob of SWAPO, before deciding to stand as a candidate.[14] He received 8,676 votes (0.97%) and finished fifth of nine candidates. In the concurrent parliamentary elections, the party received 6,099 votes and 1 seat. In the 2019 Namibian general election the RP received 14,546 votes and 2 seats.[15]

Electoral history

Presidential elections
Election Party candidate Votes % Result
2004 Henk Mudge 15,955 1.95% Lost N
2009 9,425 1.16% Lost N
2014 8,676 0.97% Lost N
2019 4,379 0.5% Lost N

National Assembly elections
Election Party leader Votes % Seats +/– Position Government
2004 Henk Mudge 16,187 1.98%
1 / 72
 1 6th Opposition
2009 6,541 0.81%
1 / 72
 7th Opposition
2014 6,099 0.68%
1 / 96
 10th Opposition
2019 14,546 1.77%
2 / 96
 1 7th Opposition
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References
  1. "The Manifesto of The Republican Party of Namibia" (PDF). November 2014.
  2. Q&A: Namibia votes BBC News, 12 November 2004
  3. Christof Maletsky, "RP plans comeback to politics" Archived 2004-12-30 at the Wayback Machine, The Namibian, August 4, 2003.
  4. Petros Kuteeue,"DTA threatens to take Henk Mudge to court" Archived 2005-02-10 at the Wayback Machine, The Namibian, August 21, 2003.
  5. Lindsay Dentlinger, "'Communication breakdown soured RP-DTA relations'", The Namibian, July 24, 2003.
  6. "ELECTION UPDATE 2004, NAMIBIA" Archived 2008-12-03 at the Wayback Machine, EISA report, number 3, December 10, 2004, page 9.
  7. RP, RDP to marry The Namibian, 2 September 2010
  8. Republican Party disbands Archived 2010-10-07 at the Wayback Machine The Namibian, 4 October 2010
  9. Mudge resigns as RP leader New Era, 16 March 2011
  10. Gowases cries foul about Chinese Archived 2012-05-31 at the Wayback Machine The Namibian, 7 April 2011
  11. "Namibia needs strong opposition parties". The Namibian. Retrieved 2017-09-08.
  12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-12-08. Retrieved 2014-12-08.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. "RDP, RP merger in balance". New Era Newspaper Namibia. 2014-02-14. Retrieved 2017-09-08.
  14. Africanelections (2014-11-27). "African Elections Project: Namibia: Meet the 9 presidential candidates". African Elections Project. Retrieved 2017-09-08.
  15. Iikela, Sakeus (2 December 2019). "Reduced victory ... Swapo, Geingob drop votes". The Namibian. p. 1.
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