United Democratic Front Of Namibia
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The United Democratic Front (UDF) is a
political party 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 political ideology, ...
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 ...
.
Justus ǁGaroëb Gaob Dr. Justus ǀUruhe ǁGaroëb (born 16 December 1942CV at Parliament website
founded the party in 1989 and led it until 2013. The party president since January 2024 is
Hendrik Gaobaeb Hendrik Gaobaeb (born 24 April 1964) is a Namibian politician. He is the president of the United Democratic Front since January 2024 and its presidential candidate in the 2024 Namibian general election. Gaobaeb is a member of the United Demo ...
. The UDF 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 ...
(2 seats) and the National Council (2 seats). 1 regional councillor and 21 local councillors are from the UDF.


History

The United Democratic Front is a political party that is most widely supported by
Damara people The Damara, plural Damaran (Khoekhoegowab: ǂNūkhoen, ''Black people'', , referring to their extended stay in hilly and mountainous sites, also called at various times the Daman or the Damaqua) are an ethnic group who make up 8.5% of Namibia ...
. Its roots are in the Damara Council, an administrative body for the
Damaraland Damaraland was a name given to the north-central part of South West Africa, which later became Namibia, inhabited by the Damaras. It was bordered roughly by Ovamboland in the north, the Namib Desert in the west, the Kalahari Desert in the e ...
territory in
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. ...
that inbecame a political party in 1980. In 1989, the Damara Council joined other parties in order to participate in the first democratic elections in Namibia. The result of the merger was the United Democratic Front (UDF). The founding members of the UDF were Justus ǁGaroëb, leader of the Damara Council, and Reggie Diergaardt, leader of the Labour Party. On 20 July 1989, the Patriotic Unity Movement joined the UDF. The UDF formed an alliance with a number of splinter parties prior to the 1989 election: * CANU-UDF, a wing of
CANU The Caprivi African National Union (CANU) was a Namibian political organization founded in 1962 by Brendan Simbwaye and Mishake Muyongo to advocate for the independence of the Caprivi strip, now the Zambezi Region.Klaus Dierks. "Chronology of Nam ...
, led by George Mutwa * Workers Revolutionary Party (WRP), led by Attie Beukes, Erica Beukes, and Werner Henry Mamugwe * Caprivi Alliance Party (CAP), led by Gabriel Siseho * Original People's Party (OPP), led by Theophelus Soroseb * Namibia National Independence Party (NNIP), led by Rudolf Ngondo * Patriotic Unity Movement (PUM), led by
Eric Biwa Eric Biwa (born 8 May 1953 in Vaalgras, ǁKaras Region) is a former Namibian politician with the Patriotic Unity Movement (PUM), a party which was a member of the United Democratic Front (UDF). Pre-independence A former combatant in the Namibi ...
.


Leadership

*
Justus ǁGaroëb Gaob Dr. Justus ǀUruhe ǁGaroëb (born 16 December 1942CV at Parliament website
(1989–2013) *
Apius Auchab Apius Auchab (born 3 October 1959) is a Namibian politician who has served as the president of the United Democratic Front since 2013. He has been a Member of the National Assembly since 2015. He was previously the party's vice president from 200 ...
(2013–2024) *
Hendrik Gaobaeb Hendrik Gaobaeb (born 24 April 1964) is a Namibian politician. He is the president of the United Democratic Front since January 2024 and its presidential candidate in the 2024 Namibian general election. Gaobaeb is a member of the United Demo ...
(2024–)


Electoral history


Presidential elections


National Assembly elections


1989

The UDF received 37,874 votes (5.65%) in the 1989 election, which elected members to 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 ...
. The Constituent Assembly elected the first President and wrote Namibia's constitution. From the UDF, President
Justus ǁGaroëb Gaob Dr. Justus ǀUruhe ǁGaroëb (born 16 December 1942CV at Parliament website
, Reggie Diergaardt,
Eric Biwa Eric Biwa (born 8 May 1953 in Vaalgras, ǁKaras Region) is a former Namibian politician with the Patriotic Unity Movement (PUM), a party which was a member of the United Democratic Front (UDF). Pre-independence A former combatant in the Namibi ...
and Theophelus Soroseb were chosen for the assembly.


1992

The UDF won one seat in the 1992 elections for the
National Council of Namibia The National Council is the upper chamber of Namibia's bicameral Parliament. It reviews bills passed by the lower chamber and makes recommendations for legislation of regional concern to the lower chamber. The 42 National Council members are i ...
.


1994

In 1994, electoral support for the party diminished in both relative and total support. The party received 13,309 total votes (2.72% of the national vote). Two UDF members were elected to the National Assembly (ǁGaroëb and Biwa).


1998

The party retained its single seat in the National Council in 1998.


1999

Following the 1999 parliamentary election, the UDF formed a coalition with the
Democratic Turnhalle Alliance The Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), formerly 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 Front ...
(DTA) so that the two parties could together be the official opposition despite the
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 ...
receiving the second highest number of votes.


2004

In the
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 ...
held on November 15 and 16, 2004, the party won 3.5% of popular votes and three out of 78 seat
1
More than half (16,081 of 29,336 total votes) of the party's electoral support came from
Khomas Region Khomas is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia. Its name refers to the Khomas Highland, a high plateau landscape that dominates this administrative subdivision. Khomas is centered on the capital city Windhoek and provides for this reason superio ...
,
Kunene Region Kunene is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia. Its capital is Opuwo, its governor is Vipuakuje Muharukua. The region's name comes from the Kunene River which forms the northern border with Angola. Geography Besides the capital Opuwo, the reg ...
and
Otjozondjupa Region Otjozondjupa is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia. Its capital is Otjiwarongo. The region further contains the municipalities of Okahandja and Grootfontein and the towns Okakarara and Otavi. , Otjozondjupa had 97,945 registered voters. Geogr ...
, with the single largest total coming from Kunene. The party again retained its single seat in the National Council in 2004.2004 National Council Election
africanelections
The UDF MPs elected in 2004 were Justus ǁGaroëb, Gustaphine Tjombe and Michael Goreseb.


2009

In the November 2009 general election, Justus ǁGaroëb once again ran for election to Namibia's presidency with the UDF; he received 19,258 total votes, representing 2.37% of all votes and finished in fifth place. The party earned two seats in the National Assembly, down from 3 in 2004. The two seats went to party leader Justus ǁGaroëb and
Simson Tjongarero Simson may refer to: * Simson (name) * Simson (artist) Music Producer based out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. * Simson (company), a German company that produced firearms, automobiles, motorcycles, and mopeds * Simson line in geometry, named for Rober ...
.


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 political parties Political parties in Namibia Damara people Political parties established in 1989 1989 establishments in South West Africa Political parties of minorities in Namibia