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 ...

is a

dominant-party state A dominant-party system, or one-party dominant system, is a political occurrence in which a single political party continuously dominates election results over running opposition groups or parties. Any ruling party staying in power for more tha ...

with the

South-West Africa People's Organisation 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 ...

in power. Opposition parties are allowed, but are widely considered to have no real chance of gaining power. In Namibian politics,

ethnicity An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they Collective consciousness, collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, ...

plays a significant role in

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

affiliation and voting behaviour. Some parties are dominated by single ethnic groups; SWAPO itself, its government, and administration, is pre-dominantly

Ovambo Ovambo may refer to: *Ovambo language, Bantu language of Namibia **Ovambo people, Bantu people of Namibia *Ovamboland, former Bantustan in South West Africa (now Namibia) *Ovambo sparrowhawk The Ovambo or Ovampo sparrowhawk, also known as Hilge ...

Parties with parliamentary seats

Parties with seats in 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 ...

after the

2024 elections This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. *2024 United Nations Security Council election *2024 national electoral calendar *2024 local electoral ...

Unrepresented parties

The following parties contested the 2019 or 2024 parliamentary elections but did not gain a seat, in the order of votes obtained: * Action Democratic Movement Party (ADM): took part in the

2024 Namibian general election General elections were held in Namibia to elect a new president and members of the National Assembly. Initially scheduled on 27 November 2024, these were later extended in some areas to 30 November due to poor planning. Opposition parties decri ...

and received 2,286 votes (0.21%). The interim party president is Vincent Kanyetu, who was previously secretary general of the All People's Party (APP) and before that of the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA). * Christian Democratic Voice (CDV) *

Congress of Democrats The Congress of Democrats (CoD) is a Namibian opposition party without representation in the National Assembly and was led by Ben Ulenga from 2004 to 2015. It was established in 1999, prior to that year's general elections, and started off w ...

(CoD) * National Empowerment Fighting Corruption (NEFC) * National Patriotic Front (NPF) * Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) * United People's Movement (UPM) * Workers Revolutionary Party (WRP)

Parties of local relevance

The following parties did not contest the 2019 general elections but took part in the 2020 local authority election, and gained seats: * Gobabis Residents' Association, 1 seat in

Gobabis Gobabis (, ) is a town in eastern Namibia. It is the regional capital of the Omaheke Region, and the district capital of the Gobabis electoral constituency. Gobabis is in the heart of the cattle farming area. It had a population of 33,418 peop ...

* Karibib Ratepayers Association, 1 seat in

Karibib Karibib () is a town in the Erongo Region of western Namibia. It has 8,434 inhabitants. Karibib is the district capital of the Karibib Constituency, Karibib electoral constituency. It is situated on the Khan River, halfway between Windhoek and S ...

* Monitor Action Group, 1 seat in

Outjo Outjo (Otjiherero: ''small hills'') is a town of 15,000 inhabitants in the Kunene Region of Namibia. It is the district capital of Outjo Constituency. It is best known as the main gateway to Etosha National Park. Overview The town was founded ...

* Okahandja Rate Payers Association, 1 seat in

Okahandja Okahandja is a city of 45,159 inhabitants in Otjozondjupa Region, central Namibia, and the district capital of the Okahandja electoral constituency. It is known as the ''Garden Town of Namibia''. It is located 70 km north of Windhoek on the B1 r ...

* Omaruru Community Development Association, 1 seat in Omaruru * Rehoboth Independent Town Management Association, 1 seat in Rehoboth * United People's Movement (UPM), 1 seat in Rehoboth *

Rundu Concerned Citizens Association Rundu is the capital and the largest city of the Kavango-East Region in northern Namibia. It lies on the border with Angola on the banks of the Kavango River, about above sea level. Rundu's population is growing rapidly. The 2001 census counted ...

, 1 seat in

Rundu Rundu is the capital and the largest city of the Kavango-East Region in northern Namibia. It lies on the border with Angola on the banks of the Kavango River, about above sea level. Rundu's population is growing rapidly. The 2001 census counted ...

* Rundu Urban Community Association, 1 seat in Rundu * Swakopmund Residents Association, 2 seats in

Swakopmund Swakopmund ("Mouth of the Swakop River, Swakop") is a city on the coast of western Namibia, west of the Namibian capital Windhoek via the B2 road (Namibia), B2 main road. It is the capital of the Erongo Region, Erongo administrative district. It ...

* Joint Walvis Bay Residents Association, 1 seat in

Walvis Bay Walvis Bay (; ; ) is a city in Namibia and the name of the bay on which it lies. It is the List of cities in Namibia, second largest city in Namibia and the largest coastal city in the country. The city covers an area of of land. The bay is a ...

Defunct parties

;National parties * Communist Party of Namibia *

Democratic Action for Namas Democratic Action for Namas was a political party in Namibia with ethnic affiliation to the Nama people. The chairman was Willem Oasib Boois. It was founded on 20 November 1984. It was one of the parties that merged into the Federal Convention o ...

Democratic Party of Namibia The Democratic Party of Namibia is a political party in Namibia, launched in July 2008 at Keetmanshoop. Although it constitutes an initiative of the Nama people, the party plans to focus on all ethnic minorities in Namibia. It positions itself i ...

(DPN) *

Namibia African People's Democratic Organisation The Namibia African People's Democratic Organisation (NAPDO) was a political party in Namibia, based amongst the Damara (people), Damara people. It was founded in 1970. In 1972 NAPDO joined the National Convention (Namibia), National Convention ...

Namibian Democratic Movement for Change The Namibia Democratic Movement for Change (NDMC) was a Namibian political party. It was founded in October 2003 under the umbrella of the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance but left it prior to the 2004 parliamentary election due to an internal po ...

* National Progressive Party * Riemvasmaak United Party * United Nama Independence People's Party * United Namib Independence Party * United Namibia People's Party ;Local parties * Civic Association of Henties Bay ;Banned parties * United Democratic Party

References

{{Africa in topic, List of political parties in

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