Minister of Urban and Rural Development, Erastus Uutoni, on Wednesday introduced an urgent amendment to Section 77 of the Electoral Act, which pertains to the nomination of candidates for the election of members of the National Assembly (NA).

In his motivation speech regarding the amendments, Uutoni explained that the Electoral Amendment Bill seeks to allow remunerated members of the public service to be nominated and to accept nominations as candidates for National Assembly (NA) election without having to resign from their employment.

Uutoni said the bill also allows remunerated members to utilise their leave days and take leave from their employment from the date of publication of their names on the party list until the election results are announced.

‘The proposed amendment will enable the upholding of constitutional rights and democracy, as well as the smooth administration of the electoral process and public service. Therefore, the clause expands the requirements for persons whose names may be submitt
ed in the party list by political parties, instead of relying solely on Article 47(1)(a) of the Constitution as is currently the case,’ said Uutoni.

According to the minister, under the amended bill, a person who did not secure a seat in the National Assembly can return to their employment. However, candidates that manage to secure seats in the National Assembly will be deemed to have resigned from the public service as from the date of the announcement of the results of the National Assembly elections.

‘The person participating in the NA election is not guaranteed that his or her political party will win or obtain enough seats in accordance with the Namibian Constitution. If such a person fails to obtain a seat, that person becomes unemployed as he or she is unable to return to the employment they initially resigned from for the purposes of participating in the NA election,’ stressed the minister.

In terms of the proposed amendment, an affected candidate would be required to notify their employer and the
Electoral Commission of Namibia that they have accepted the nomination and choose to resign or take early retirement if they have or will attain the age of 55 on or before the announcement of the election results.

Source: The Namibia News Agency