Parliamentary elections were held in

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

between 7 and 11 November 1989. These elections were for the

Constituent Assembly of Namibia Below is a list of members of the Constituent Assembly of Namibia, which became the National Assembly of Namibia upon independence in March 1990. Individual members were selected by political parties voted for in the 1989 election, the first ...

, which, upon independence in March 1990, became 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 cl ...

Background

The elections were facilitated by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

, after the withdrawal of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

n troops from

South West Africa South West Africa was a territory under Union of South Africa, South African administration from 1915 to 1990. Renamed ''Namibia'' by the United Nations in 1968, Independence of Namibia, it became independent under this name on 21 March 1990. ...

(present day Namibia) after the 1988 Tripartite Accords. The UN established the

United Nations Transition Assistance Group The United Nations Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG) was a United Nations (UN) peacekeeping force deployed from April 1989 to March 1990 in Namibia, known at the time as South West Africa, to monitor the peace process and elections there. Na ...

and through its resolutions 629, 632,

640 Year 640 ( DCXL) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 640 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming y ...

and 643 in 1989, implemented the United Nations plan for Namibia in resolution 435 (1978) to help secure free and fair elections, and eventually, the country's independence. The United Nations plan included overview by foreign election observers who monitored the election process. The work of foreign observers helped to ensure that the elections were certified as free and fair by the UN Special Representative. 701,483 people registered to vote, with 680,788 casting votes, a voter turnout of 97%. Foreign Observer identification badge in the 1989 Namibian election

Results

Aftermath

Following the election SWAPO supporters celebrated across

Windhoek Windhoek (; ; ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek, which ...

, especially in the segregated and predominantly black township of Katutura.

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 ...

, chairman of the DTA, pledged to work with the SWAPO government in moving towards independence and national development. Support for the DTA and UDF was strong in the former

bantustans A Bantustan (also known as a Bantu homeland, a black homeland, a black state or simply known as a homeland; ) was a territory that the National Party administration of the Union of South Africa (1910–1961) and later the Republic of Sout ...

, including Hereroland and Damaraland. As a result of SWAPO's election victory, its then president Sam Nujoma was unanimously declared

President of Namibia The president of Namibia is the head of state and head of government of Namibia. The president directs the executive branch of the Government of Namibia, government, acts as chair of the Cabinet of Namibia, Cabinet and is the commander-in-chie ...

, and was sworn in by UN Secretary-General

Javier Pérez de Cuéllar Javier Felipe Ricardo Pérez de Cuéllar de la Guerra ( , ; 19 January 1920 – 4 March 2020) was a Peruvian diplomat and politician who served as the fifth secretary-general of the United Nations from 1982 to 1991. He later served as prime min ...

on 21 March 1990. Since then Namibia has held both presidential elections and parliamentary elections every five years.

References

External links

Reprint of "Namibian Voters Deny Total Power to SWAPO" by Michael Johns
''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', November 19, 1989. {{Namibian elections

Parliamentary election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

Parliamentary elections in Namibia National Assembly (Namibia)