Rally for Democracy and Progress | |
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Abbreviation | RDP |
President | Mike Kavekotora |
Secretary-General | Brunhilde Cornelius |
Founder | Hidipo Hamutenya Jesaya Nyamu |
Founded | 17 November 2007 |
Split from | SWAPO |
Headquarters | Schönlein Street Windhoek West Windhoek Khomas Region |
Newspaper | Voice of Change |
Youth Wing | RDP Youth League |
Women’s Wing | RDP Women’s League |
Ideology | Liberalism African nationalism [ citation needed ] |
Political position | Centre-left [ citation needed ] |
Colors | Blue Yellow Green Black |
Seats in the National Assembly | 1 / 104 |
Seats in the National Council | 0 / 42 |
Regional Councillors | 0 / 121 |
Local Councillors | 16 / 378 |
Pan-African Parliament | 0 / 5 |
Party flag | |
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Website | |
Website of RDP | |
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The Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) is a political party in Namibia. It was launched on 17 November 2007 under the leadership of Hidipo Hamutenya and Jesaya Nyamu, both former leading members of the ruling SWAPO party and cabinet ministers. Hamutenya had unsuccessfully sought the SWAPO nomination for President in 2004. At the time of the RDP's launch, it was considered to represent the strongest challenge to SWAPO's political dominance since the country gained its independence in 1990. According to Hamutenya, speaking at the RDP's launch, the party was "born in response to our people's deep longing for a vision, political direction and the rekindling of their hopes and aspiration for a better and prosperous future". [1]
In December 2008, RDP held the party's first national conference. Hamutenya was officially selected as leader of the party. Other party leaders included Steve Bezuidenhout, Jesaya Nyamu and Agnes Limbo. Concerning the crises in Zimbabwe, Hamutenya said "The Zimbabwe crisis is manmade and that regime should not be allowed to continue. It has led to poverty and hardship". [2]
Election | Candidate | Votes | % | Result |
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2009 | Hidipo Hamutenya | 88,640 | 10.91% | Lost![]() |
2014 | 30,197 | 3.39% | Lost![]() | |
2019 | Mike Kavekotora | 3,515 | 0.4% | Lost![]() |
Election | Party leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Position | Result |
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2009 | Hidipo Hamutenya | 90,556 | 11.16% | 8 / 96 | ![]() | ![]() | Opposition |
2014 | 31,372 | 3.51% | 3 / 96 | ![]() | ![]() | Opposition | |
2019 | Mike Kavekotora | 8,953 | 1.09% | 1 / 96 | ![]() | ![]() | Opposition |
At the 2009 elections, RDP won 11% of the vote and 8 seats in the National Assembly. The party's leader and presidential candidate, Hidipo Hamutenya, won 10.91% of the vote. RDP and eight other opposition parties disputed the result and filed a case in court to have the results put aside, but the case was denied.
The eight members of the National Assembly in 2010 were: Hidipo Hamutenya, Steve Bezuidenhout, Jesaya Nyamu, Agnes Limbo, Anton von Wietersheim, Kandy Nehova, Peter Naholo and Heiko Lucks.
In March 2010, because of the disputed 2009 election, RDP decided to boycott the swearing-in ceremony of the National Assembly of Namibia. RDP decided to wait until the Supreme Court of Namibia ruled on whether to put aside the election results. [3] It was not until 14 September 2010 that the eight RDP members of the National Assembly were sworn in. [4]
On 8 September 2010, RDP began the process of subsuming the Republican Party led by Henk Mudge following a memorandum of understanding agreement on September 8. In the agreement, The Republican Party would begin to phase out as an independent political organization and eventually come under the umbrella of RDP. The parties said they would work together in the November 2010 regional and local elections to unseat the ruling SWAPO party. [5]
In 2015 Jeremia Nambinga became president of the RDP. He was voted out of that position by a no-confidence vote in 2017 but challenged the result in court, and won. In August 2018 he resigned his presidency. [6] In 2019 Mike Kavekotora was elected president and Kennedy Shekupakela vice president. [7]
Hidipo Livius Hamutenya was a Namibian politician. A long time leading member of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), Hamutenya was a member of the Cabinet of Namibia from independence in 1990 to 2004, serving in several important ministerial portfolios. He was defeated in a bid for the party's presidential nomination in 2004 and left SWAPO to form an opposition group, the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP), in 2007. He was elected to the National Assembly of Namibia with RDP in the 2009 general election. He was forced to step down as RDP president on 28 February 2015 and rejoined SWAPO on 28 August 2015.
Hifikepunye Lucas Pohamba is a Namibian politician who served as the second president of Namibia from 21 March 2005 to 21 March 2015. He won the 2004 presidential election overwhelmingly as the candidate of SWAPO, and was reelected in 2009. Pohamba was the president of SWAPO from 2007 until his retirement in 2015. He is a recipient of the Ibrahim Prize.
Nahas Gideon Angula is a Namibian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of Namibia from 21 March 2005 to 4 December 2012. He was succeeded by Hage Geingob in a cabinet reshuffle after the 2012 SWAPO Party congress. He subsequently served as Minister of Defence from 2012 to 2015.
Marco Mukoso Hausiku was a Namibian politician who was Deputy-Prime Minister of Namibia from 2010 to 2015.
The Republican Party is a political party in Namibia. It is based among the white minority. 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 one National Assembly seat.
Gibeon is a village in Gibeon Constituency in the Hardap Region of Namibia.
Rehoboth Rural is an electoral constituency in the Hardap region of Namibia. It had a population of 7,288 in 2011, down from 7,524 in 2001. The constituency office is in Schlip. Other settlements in Rehoboth Rural are Klein Aub, Khauxas and Rietoog. As of 2020, the constituency had 4,701 registered voters.
General elections were held in Namibia on 27–28 November 2009. They were the fourth general elections since independence and the fifth democratic elections. Voting ended on 28 November and official election results, released on 4 December, showed that Hifikepunye Pohamba and his SWAPO Party were re-elected, each with over 75% of the vote. Prior to the election, the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) was widely expected to score a landslide victory, with the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) considered SWAPO's biggest challenger. Fourteen political parties competed for seats in the National Assembly of Namibia, and twelve candidates ran for the presidency.
Jesaya Nyamu is a Namibian politician. A member of the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP), he was a high level member of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) from 1964, when he fled into exile, until 2002, when he was expelled from the party for "disobedience". He was a member of SWAPO's central committee from 1975 until his expulsion from the party in 2002. In 2007, he registered a new political party, the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) and was unanimously selected as the party's secretary general in 2008. He was elected to the National Assembly of Namibia with RDP in the 2009 general election.
Jeremia Nambinga" is a Namibian Politician.
Steve Bezuidenhout is a Namibian politician. A Coloured Namibian, Bezuidenhout is the Interim President of the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP). He joined SWAPO in 1989 and was active until he left to help form the RDP. He was elected to the National Assembly of Namibia as an RDP candidate in the 2009 general election.
Kandy Nehova is a Namibian politician. A member of the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP), Nehova was a member of the National Assembly of Namibia following the 2009 election. In September 2010, Nehova and eight other opposition politicians were sworn-in as members of the National Assembly following a six-month boycott due to electoral irregularities in the 2009 election. The electoral irregularities were ruled by a court of law to be unfounded.
Mukwe is a constituency in the Kavango East region of Namibia. The district centre is the settlement of Mukwe. It had a population of 27,690 in 2011, up from 27,250 in 2001. The constituency contains the major settlements of Bagani, Kangongo and Divundu, and a number of small populated places such as Andara and Diyogha. As of 2020 the constituency had 16,678 registered voters.
Agnes Mundia Limbo is a Namibian politician. A member of the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP), she was named the Deputy Secretary of the party at their founding conference in December 2008. She was elected to the National Assembly of Namibia with RDP in the 2009 general election.
General elections were held in Namibia on 27 November 2019. Ballots were cast using electronic voting. A total of eleven candidates ran for the presidency and fifteen political parties contested the National Assembly elections.