Namibia

National elections in Namibia are largely free and fair. Since the first elections of independent Namibia in 1994, the country has held seven national general elections with the governing SWAPO sweeping all the presidential contests by an average of 56 percentage points. The 2019 election marked the first time SWAPO won less than 73% of seats in the National Assembly. Political parties are free to compete for public office, and the electorate can vote and determine the election outcome without coercion. The government does not seriously undermine independent electoral oversight or engage in large-scale electoral fraud. However, SWAPO’s decades of political control give the party unfair campaign advantages that skew the playing field in its favor.

Independent media, political leaders, civil society leaders, organizations, and members of the general public are largely free to openly criticize or challenge the government. The media and opposition leaders exhibit elements of vibrancy, but their capacity to function as robust pillars of democratic accountability is sometimes curtailed by political pressure.

Institutions are largely independent, serving as effective checks on the government and consistently restraining attempts to undermine electoral competition, repress criticism, or dismantle accountability mechanisms. Judicial, legislative, and executive institutions frequently hold government officials accountable.