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

. 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. He died aged 77 after a short illness. A long-time leading member of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), Hamutenya was a member of the Cabinet ...

and Jesaya Nyamu, both former leading members of the ruling

SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO ; , SWAVO; , SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former independence movement in Namibia (formerly South West Africa). Founded in 1960, it has been ...

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 file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

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

Election results

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 repr ...

. 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, Kandy Nehova, Peter Naholo and Heiko Lucks.

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 cl ...

. RDP decided to wait until the

Supreme Court of Namibia The Supreme Court of Namibia is the supreme court, highest court in the Judiciary of Namibia, judicial system of Namibia. It is the court of last resort and the highest appellate court in the country. It is located in the city centre of Namibia's ...

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. In 2015 Jeremia Nambinga became president of the RDP. He was voted out of that position by a

no-confidence vote A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fit ...

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