New electoral law to leave MPs jobless

Civil servants aspiring to be members of parliament will have to endure being jobless for four months between the day they are declared elected and the time they are sworn in, if President Nangolo Mbumba signs the new amended Electoral Act in its proposed format.

Urban and rural development minister Erastus Uutoni tabled amendments to the Electoral Act of 2014, whose contentious Article 47 caused an uproar during the 2019 elections when it was strictly enforced for the first time by the Electoral Commission of Namibia.

Article 47 demands that public servants and existing members of the National Council, regional councils or local authorities resign from these positions before making themselves available for election into public office. This was deemed unfair and discriminatory, and plans have been set into motion to fix the Act.

However, the proposed amendments have been described as “taking away one barrier and putting an even bigger one in its place”, after it emerged that the amended Act would demand that civil servants elected in November to join parliament must resign upon the announcement of the results.

Jobless for months

With Namibian lawmakers only sworn in in March the following year, those resigning are almost guaranteed to remain jobless for the four months between when they are declared elected and when they are sworn in.

Pundits have suggested that the new amendments would not have been problematic had Namibia adopted a system where those who are elected are sworn in a few days after the election results have been declared.

According to the new amendments, once a civil servant who was on a party list is confirmed to have made it to parliament, they are deemed to have resigned if they are under the age of 55, while those who are 55 and above by the time of the announcement of the results would be deemed to have taken early retirement.

After the initial passing of the bill by the National Assembly, it was sent to the National Council where it was scrutinised and returned with amendments.

National Council wanted a civil servant who has secured a seat in parliament after the election to only be deemed as having resigned once duly sworn in as a member of parliament. However, the National Council’s amendment was not considered in the National Assembly, which passed the amended bill in its original format and forwarded it to Mbumba for his signature.

Precarious position

Rundu Rural constituency councillor and member of the National Council Paulus Mbangu slammed the amended bill, saying: “If a person gets voted into parliament when the results are announced, for example on 30 November, he will be deemed as having resigned, yet he will only assume his next job [in parliament] in March next year. Where will the person get the money to feed their family?”

“That means that the civil servant will be unemployed from December to March. Where will they get money from to pay for food, water and electricity bills?”

Disturbingly, public servants under the age of 55 who are forced to resign have no option to change their mind or return to their public service role if they eventually decide not to take up the seat in the National Assembly.

“The bill does not allow for any reconsideration or revocation of this resignation after the election results are declared, which could leave these individuals in a precarious position without stable employment if their political career does not proceed as expected,” a member of the opposition commented.

Swear-in debate

Other countries do the swearing-in of members of parliament soon after election results are announced, Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) executive director Graham Hopwood said, adding that this is the best solution to the current discontent.

“It's a difficult issue because the neutrality of any elected civil servant would be compromised in the four-month period. This situation is caused by the long interregnum between the announcement of election results and the swearing in of parliamentarians,” he said.

“In the medium-term, we should look at changing the system so that the president and members of parliament are sworn in within a matter of weeks - if not days - after the election. The only alternative that may work in the meantime is that civil servants who are elected are given paid leave until they start their parliamentary jobs. However, this would be expensive.”

Action for Democratic Movement (ADM) president Vinsent Kanyetu echoed Hopwood’s sentiments.

“The newly-elected members of parliament should be sworn in immediately - a week after the results announcement, just like in South Africa,” he said.

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