The Republican Party () is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

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 is based among the white minority.

Henk Mudge Henry Ferdinand Mudge (known as Henk) (born February 18, 1952) is a Namibian politician and President of the Republican Party.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 repre ...

. Prior to the 2004 parliamentary election, the Republican Party was part of the

Democratic Turnhalle Alliance The Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), formerly the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA), is an amalgamation of political parties in Namibia, registered as one singular party for representation purposes. In coalition with the United Democratic ...

(DTA). It was revived as an independent party in 2003, and won 1.9% of popular votes and 1

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 repre ...

seat. The Republican Party was founded 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 ...

in 1977Christof Maletsky
"RP plans comeback to politics"
, ''The Namibian'', August 4, 2003. and joined the DTA in the same year.Petros Kuteeu

, ''The Namibian'', August 21, 2003. In mid-2003, the Republican Party revived itself as an independent organization.

Hardap Region Hardap is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, its capital is Mariental. Hardap contains the municipality of Mariental, the towns Rehoboth and Aranos, and the self-governed villages Gibeon, Gochas, Kalkrand, Stampriet and Maltahöhe. It is ...

Governor Pieter Boltman resigned as party leader, opposing the party's moves to separate itself from the DTA, in July 2003, and he was succeeded by Henk Mudge,Lindsay Dentlinger
"'Communication breakdown soured RP-DTA relations'"
''The Namibian'', July 24, 2003. Dirk Mudge's son. DTA President

Katuutire Kaura Katuutire Kaura (3 February 1941 – 22 January 2022) was a Namibian politician. He was president of the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA) from 1998 to 2013 and was the official leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), opposition from 2000 to 2 ...

denounced the moves to separate the Republican Party from the DTA, saying that Mudge acted unilaterally and illegally. Kaura claimed that Mudge wanted to create a party solely for "previously advantaged" minority Namibians, but Mudge denied that the Republican Party would be a party exclusively for whites. Mudge stood as the Republican Party's candidate in the November 2004 presidential election, receiving 1.95% of the vote and placing sixth. Mudge stood again for the Presidency in the 2009 election, where he gained 9,425 votes (1.16%), finishing seventh overall. He was re-elected as the party's leader to the National Assembly. In September 2010, the Republican Party was reported to have begun the process of merging with the Rally for Democracy and Progress, the country's largest opposition party. Henk Mudge then announced that he would resign from Parliament on 14 October 2010 and confirmed the disbanding of the Republican Party. In the event he did not resign as a National Assembly member and party president until March 2011. Teacher and party chairperson

Clara Gowases Clara ǁGowases (1960-2020) was a Namibian teacher and politician. Gowases was elected the chairperson of the Republican Party in September 2009 and subsequently listed second on the party's electoral list for the 2009 general election. Gowases m ...

was appointed in his place and gave her initial speech to the National Assembly in April of that year. According to a later interview with Mudge, some Republican Party members were elected to local councils with RDP support at this time. The merger plan was apparently revived in 2013 and again early in 2014. During the 2014 presidential election, Mudge initially urged party members to vote for

Hage Geingob Hage Gottfried Geingob (born 3 August 1941) is a Namibian politician, serving as the third president of Namibia since 21 March 2015. Geingob was the first Prime Minister of Namibia from 1990 to 2002, and served as prime minister again from 2012 ...

SWAPO 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 ...

, before deciding to stand as a candidate. He received 8,676 votes (0.97%) and finished fifth of nine candidates. In the concurrent parliamentary elections, the party received 6,099 votes and 1 seat. In the

2019 Namibian general election General elections were held in Namibia on 27 November 2019. Ballots were cast using electronic voting. A total of eleven candidates ran for the presidency and fifteen political parties contested the National Assembly elections. Hage Geingob of S ...

the RP received 14,546 votes and 2 seats.

Electoral history

Presidential elections

National Assembly elections

References

{{Authority control 1977 establishments in South West Africa Conservative parties in Namibia Political parties established in 1977 Political parties of minorities Political parties in Namibia Rally for Democracy and Progress (Namibia) White Namibian culture Protestant political parties Christian political parties Christian democratic parties in Africa