Diplomatist Magazine Diplomatist March 2019 | Page 35

COVER STORY
As Namibia has yet to experience a transition of power between parties, some questions
remain over the robustness of its checks and balances. Nonetheless, Namibia has realized
considerable strengthening of its democratic institutions over the years.
Masisi succeeded former president, Ian Khama, as party
leader in April 2018 as Khama, having already served 10
years in offi ce, was nearing the completion of his second term.
Underscoring the perennial diffi culty of stepping down from
power faced by many leaders, Khama had fl irted with trying
to extend his time in offi ce. However, Botswana’s resilient
democratic traditions prevailed upon Khama to abandon this
consideration; maintaining Botswana’s succession tradition.
Botswana has never had a transition in power between parties.
NAMIBIA
General Election: November
The South West African People’s Organization
tion
(SWAPO) party has dominated Namibian politics
itics
since independence from South Africa in 1990
1990.
This pattern continues today with SWAPO controlling 77 of
96 seats in the National Assembly. Incumbent President Hage
Geingob, similarly, won offi ce in a landslide with 87 percent
of the popular vote in 2014. He is seeking his second term in
a crowded fi eld of 15 candidates.
As Namibia has yet to experience a transition of power
between parties, some questions remain over the robustness
of its checks and balances. Nonetheless, Namibia has realized
considerable strengthening of its democratic institutions
over the years. This maturing of the political system is seen
in the adherence of presidents to term limits, the precedent
of which was established with Namibia’s second president,
Hifi kepunye Pohamba, who stepped down in 2015. Further
institutionalization of the democratic process is seen with a
strengthening civil society and the growing independence
of the press, government oversight mechanisms, and the
private sector. In this way, Namibia provides a positive model
of a liberation movement party taking meaningful steps to
transition to democracy.
Namibia’s political stability has made it an anchor for
governance and security issues in southern Africa—a pattern
that is expected to continue after the 2019 elections.
TUNISIA
Parliamentary Election: October
Presidential Election: December
One of the most anticipated elections of the
year will be in late 2019 when Tunisia holds its s
third round of national elections since the ouster of
long-time autocratic leader Zine El Abidine Ben
n Ali
in 2011. The elections mark another milestone in the
democratic transition of the one North African country that
has been able to sustain momentum for reform following
the Arab Spring protests. Tunisia has been noteworthy in
that it has comprised a multiparty process of competing
political visions willing to work together within a democratic
framework. This includes the Islamist Ennahda party,
providing a model for the compatibility of Islamist parties
and democracy.
Campaigning in 2019 will refl ect new coalitions from
the last national elections in 2014. While Ennahda retains
a broad base of popular support, their erstwhile coalition
partner, the secularist Nidaa Tounes party, has been riven
by divisions since the installation of Hafedh Essebi, the son
of 92-year-old President Beji Caid Essebi, as party leader.
This has led some members, led by Prime Minister Youssef
Chahed, to form a new party- the National Coalition. With no
party commanding a majority, the need to compromise will
continue to characterize Tunisian politics around priorities
of unemployment, infl ation, security, and issues of identity,
especially the role of religion and women in public life. 
* The author directs the Africa Center’s research program. Prior to joining the Africa Center, Dr. Siegle was a Douglas
Dillon Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, a senior research scholar at the University of Maryland’s Center for
International and Security Studies, and a senior advisor for democratic governance at DAI. He also previously served in
various fi eld capacities in Africa, Asia, and the Balkans with the international NGO, World Vision, and was a Peace Corps
Volunteer. He has a Ph.D. in international security and economic policy from the University of Maryland School of Public
Policy and an M.A. in agricultural economics, with an emphasis on African food security, from Michigan State University.
The article was fi rst published in Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist • Vol 7 • Issue 3 • March 2019, Noida • 35