The National Party of South West Africa ( af, Nasionale Party van Suidwes-Afrika, german: Nationale Partei Südwestafrikas) was a political party in

South West Africa South West Africa ( af, Suidwes-Afrika; german: Südwestafrika; nl, Zuidwest-Afrika) was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990, after which it became modern-day Namibia. It bordered Angola (Portuguese colony before 1 ...

History

The party was originally established in Mariental by Frikke Jooste in July 1924.Victor L. Tonchi, William A. Lindeke & John J. Grotpeter (2012) ''Historical Dictionary of Namibia'', Scarecrow Press, pp289–290 It won two seats in the 1926 legislative elections, which saw the German League win eight of the twelve elected seats.Zedekia Ngavirue (1997) ''Political parties and interest groups in South West Africa (Namibia)'', P Schelttwein Publishing, p301 On 31 January 1927 it merged with the

South West Party The South West Party (in Afrikaans: ''Suidwes Party'', in German: ''Südwestpartei'') was a political party in South West Africa, today Namibia. Initially the party was known as Union Party (''Unie Party'' in Afrikaans). The party was founded in Win ...

, which had won one seat in the elections, to form the

United National South West Party The United National South West Party ( af, Verenigde Nasionale Suidwes Party, german: Vereinigte Nationale Südwestpartei) was a political party in South West Africa, the local counterpart of the South African United Party (South Africa), United P ...

(UNSWP). The National Party was re-established as a separate party in 1939, winning two seats in the

1940 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1940. Africa * 1940 South-West African legislative election Asia * 1940 Philippine special election Europe * 1940 Moldavian parliamentary election * 1940 Swedish general election United Kingdom * ...

, which saw the UNSWP win the remaining ten. It subsequently lost both seats in

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. Januar ...

, with the UNSWP winning all twelve.Ngavirue, p302 However, with its

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n counterpart coming to power in

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

, the National Party also came to prominence in South West Africa, going on to win fifteen of the eighteen seats in the 1950 elections. Thereafter the National Party dominated South West African politics, winning sixteen seats in the

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

and 1961 elections and all eighteen in

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

. It subsequently won every seat in elections in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

and

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

. A party congress in September 1977 saw a walkout of 80 moderate members led by

Dirk Mudge Dirk Frederik Mudge (16 January 192826 August 2020) was a Namibian politician. He served in several high-ranking positions in the South African administration of South West Africa, was the chairman of the 1975–1977 Turnhalle Constitutional Con ...

, with Mudge forming the Republican Party on 5 October. Prior to the elections the following year, the National Party formed a multi-racial,

Action Front for the Retention of Turnhalle Principles Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 f ...

(ACTUR). However, it received only 12% of the vote, winning six seats to the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance's 41. In 1980 a Second Tier Representative Authority was created for the white community. The National Party went on to dominate the body until its dissolution in 1989. It was part of the

Action Christian National Action Christian National (ACN) was a white nationalist political party in Namibia (formerly South West Africa). The ACN was established in 1989 to enable whites to participate in the elections. It used to be aligned with the National Party of S ...

alliance alongside the German League for the

1989 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1989. Africa * 1989 Beninese parliamentary election * 1989 Botswana general election * 1989 Equatorial Guinean presidential election * 1989 People's Republic of the Congo parliamentary election * ...

, with the alliance winning three seats. In 1991 the party was disbanded, with party leader Kosie Pretorius forming the

Monitor Action Group The Monitor Action Group is a political party in Namibia. The party came into existence as the transformation of the National Party of South West Africa in 1991, Kosie Pretorius became its first chairperson and served until his retirement from a ...

.Namibia's Former White Rulers Change Political Strategy
Christian Science Monitor, 24 September 1991

Leaders

*1968–81: A.H. du Plessis *1981–91: Kosie Pretorius

Electoral history

Legislative Assembly elections

References

{{Authority control National Party (South Africa) Political parties with year of establishment missing Political parties with year of disestablishment missing 20th century in South West Africa Afrikaner nationalism Conservative parties in Namibia Defunct political parties in Namibia Protestant political parties South West Africa 20th century in Namibia 1924 establishments in South West Africa 1927 disestablishments in South West Africa 1939 establishments in South West Africa 1991 disestablishments in Namibia