The Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) is a political party in

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. It was launched on 17 November 2007 under the leadership of

Hidipo Hamutenya Hidipo Livius Hamutenya (17 June 1939 – 6 October 2016) 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 ...

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".

2008 conference and criticism of Robert Mugabe

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 Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

, Hamutenya said "The Zimbabwe crisis is manmade and that regime should not be allowed to continue. It has led to poverty and hardship".

Electoral history

Presidential elections

National Assembly elections

2009 elections

At the 2009 elections, RDP won 11% of the vote and 8 seats in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

. The party's leader and presidential candidate,

, 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:

, Steve Bezuidenhout, Jesaya Nyamu, Agnes Limbo,

Anton von Wietersheim Anton von Wietersheim (born 10 June 1951) is a Namibian politician. Wietersheim was a member of the Constituent Assembly of Namibia from 1989 to 1990 and was elected to the National Assembly as a SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisa ...

, Kandy Nehova,

Peter Naholo Peter Naholo is a Namibian politician and former trade unionist. Naholo was a combatant with the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN), the military wing of the SWAPO liberation movement. In 2009, he was placed sixth on the National Assembly l ...

and

Heiko Lucks Heiko Lucks is a Namibian politician. A member of the Rally for Democracy and Progress, Lucks was elected to the National Assembly of Namibia in the 2009 general election. In September 2010, Lucks and eight other opposition politicians were swor ...

2010 regional elections, National Assembly boycott and merger

In March 2010, because of the disputed 2009 election, RDP decided to boycott the swearing-in ceremony of the

National Assembly of Namibia The National Assembly is the lower chamber of Namibia's bicameral Parliament. Its laws must be approved by the National Council, the upper house. Since 2014, it has a total of 104 members. 96 members are directly elected through a system of clos ...

. RDP decided to wait until the Supreme Court of Namibia ruled on whether to put aside the election results. It was not until 14 September 2010 that the eight RDP members of the National Assembly were sworn in. 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 The South West Africa People's Organisation (, SWAPO; af, Suidwes-Afrikaanse Volks Organisasie, SWAVO; german: Südwestafrikanische Volksorganisation, SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former ind ...

. In 2015

Jeremia Nambinga Jeremia Nambinga" (born December 13, 1946) is a Namibian Politician. Life Since 2008, Nambinga has been a member of the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP); from 20152018, Nambinga was its president. A long-serving member of Swapo party, N ...

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. In 2019 Mike Kavekotora was elected president and Kennedy Shekupakela vice president.

References

External links

Official Web Site
{{Authority control Political parties in Namibia Political parties established in 2007 2007 establishments in Namibia