Incumbent, former guerrillas win big in Namibian presidential, parliamentary elections

Incumbent wins big in Namibian presidential vote

WINDHOEK, Namibia — Namibia’s election commission says President Hifikepunye Pohamba has won re-election, with more than six times as many votes as his nearest rival.

According to results posted Saturday on the Election Commission of Namibia’s Web site, Pohamba won 611,241 votes, or about 75 percent.

His long-governing South West African People’s Organization, a former guerrilla movement known as SWAPO, won about 75 percent of the vote in the National Assembly elections held alongside the presidential voting Nov. 27-28.

Hidipo Hamutenya, a former foreign minister, was second in the presidential race with 88,640 votes. Hamutenya’s two-year-old Rally for Democracy and Progress will be the main opposition in parliament, winning just over 11 percent of that vote.