JS: -a. V . 1
1
if
SWAPO'S Objections Gain African
18 THE CJCSUXA HUES SATURDAY, MAY 29.1882
JAN Speaking i in
Nigeria last week.Mher
president of the South
West African People's
Organization of Namibia
(SWAPO), Sam Nu
joma, predicted that on
ly intensified warfare
"will convince South
Africa and its allies that
a peaceful settlement is
necessary." Nujoma got the back
ing of Nigerian President
Shehu 'ShagarL for
SWAPO's position that
the election proposal
drawn up by the Western ,
Contact Group is too
cumbersome to ensure a
frce and fair vote in the
disputed territory.
SWAPO's stance was
also endorsed by the,
African front-line states
Angola. Botswana.
"Mozambique. Tanzania,
Zambia and Zimbabe
at their May 4 meeting In .
Dares Salaam. 1
Defending the;
Western proposals. U.S.
Assistant Secretary of
State Chester Crocker,
declared during a visit to
the Ivory Coast last week
thai the proposed two
tier election plan is fair
for all. Crocker went to
the west African state
after successive meetings
in Geneva with South
Africa's chief Namibia
negotiator. Brand
Fourie. and then with
representatives from the
other members of the
Contact Group Bri
tain, Canada, France:
and West Germany. On
May 17, the foreign
ministers from the five
issued a call "to ac
celerate the resolution of
outstanding issues."
' following their meeting
on the Namibia issue
during a North Atlantic
Treaty Organization scs-
sion in Luxemburg.
Deep suspicions about
the Contact Group's in
tentions' apparently lie
behind SWAPO's objec
tions. The Namibian
, movement seems to have
a particular distrust of
the Reagan administra
tion, which has forged a
close relationship' with
the ..Smith : African
government during the
past 16 months.
Here are major por
tions of the. SWAPO
statement outlining the
group's reasons for re
jecting the election pro
posal: :
SWAPO Memorandum .
, To The
. Western Five
Pretoria, no doubt
understands that
SWAPO will win if free,
fair and honest elections
arc held in Namibia.
Therefore, the apartheid
regime is trying its best
to prevent ' a SWAPO
electoral victory. We arc
convinced that t he idea
of "one. man xnc vote,
one vote two counts" or
"one man t wo votes.' ' as
it were, is contrived in
order to create special
circumstances , under
which SWAPO could be
deprived of the chance of
gaining two-thirds ; ma
jority of the scats in the
Constituent Assembly
required to 1 adopt
Namibia's independence
constitution. With
SWAPO deprived of
such two-thirds majority
through specially contrived.-
and indeed,
dishonest electoral
method, Pretoria would
have opportunity to use
its r political puppets o
start an endless, debate.
on the constitution and,
ultimately, to delay , the
granting of in-"
dependence to Namibia. "
This is why the South
African rulers felt the!
need to resort to a com
plicated and totally un
justifiable electoral pro
cedure. This procedure is ;.'
clearly designed to en-; ,
sure, on the one hand,
guaranteed representa-i
tion for the white
minorities in the Consti
tuent Assembly. This
becomes clear when, we
consider the low 2 (in
stead of the standard
57o) ceiling or cut-off r
point to qualify a party '
for representation in the
'assembly) which the Five
have proposed. On the ,
other hand, the choice of
such an electoral double,
standard is aimed at giv
ing Pretoria - an oppor
tunity to use and acccn- ,
tuatc tribal or ethnic fac-'
tors against SWAPO. "
The Five have now put
forth, in the latest pro
posal. Single Member,
Constituency as the
preferred voting pro
cedure. SWAPO has
consistently pointed out:
that, desirable as it may
be, the procedure of
Single-Member Consti- i
tuenCy would create its
own problems. It is for!
instance, clear.that while
it is 'possible to conduct
elections without census
being taken under Pro
portional Representa
tion, Single-Member
Constituency procedure
will require complete
census, under UN super-,
vision, of the popula
tion, demarcation of the
country into Constituen
cies and. finally,
registration of voters.
Could it be possible to
agree beforehand to this
entire procedure having
no notion whatsoever as
lei specifically how many
people would be re
quired, how and whether
all that most" important
work can be fulfilled
within the seven months ,
stipulated in the UN
Plait for UNTAG UN
Transition Assistance
Groupl operations? No
responsible political
organization, not ,
SWAPO in any case, can
give such a consent in ad
vance.; Yet, the discus
sions of the composition,
size and deployment of
UNTAG is postponed to
"Phase Two".
The experience of the
last six months has
shown that the phased
approach to the negotia
tions is being used to
force SWAPO to. step
by step, make conces
sions, sometimes irrever
sible ones, while South
Africa is yielding prac
( tically nothing.' Pretoria
has as' yet made no bin
ding commitrncnt to
grant independence to
Namibia.
Moreover, those who
keep harping on about
UN impartiality arc in
sulting the intelligence of
..those UN Member States
who have voted for
General " Assembly
Resolution 3111 of
December, 1973, Thcv
arc also glossing over the
fact that the real pro
blem about lack of im
partiality is South Africa
which ' has ; more than
40 .(XX) civil servants and
police force in Namibia
and has unilaterally turn
ed Walvis Bav, into a
huge military garrison.;
These South African :
civil servants and police i
are well-known for their;,'
open hostility toward ,
SWAPO.. Yet, they will :,
have an important role
to play in the administra
tion -of elections.1 -Therefore,
the fact is
that the question !of im
partiality is not only a
two-way street, but also
that the onus is actually
more on South Africa
than the .UN to,
demonstrate impartiali
ty.. Here, too, the, issue ;
of so-called con fidencc
building cannot be
.Wt$ -:flli-,v
meaningfully, dealt with ';.
in isolation 'from the i;
adoption of electoral
procedure, agreement on
the size,' composition,
deployment ;of UNTAG
personnel " as well ; as .
agreement on the dates ; .
of the ceasefire and ar-:
rival, of, UNTAG in
Namibia. - 1 ,.
' In our opinion,, the
most correct way i of
speeding up the negotia-'
lions."" is to consider
seriously the constructive
proposal of SWAPO on
convening, under ,,. UN
auspices, a new Genevan
type Conference in the,
course of which sugges-;
tkmsot all parties that
are irlvolved In the whole
complex of the Nami- '
bian Settlement could be
examlne'd.
It is in the liisht of the1
.foregoing that we, once
again, appeal to the Five;
to seriopsly consider, as
a matter of urgencyour
proposal for the holding ;
of a j Geneva-type Con- ?
ference ; to discuss and ;
resolve jail the putstan--' ;
ding Issues, that is, all
issues involved in the
three phases.
In suggesting this, we,
proceed . rom ; - the?
"assumption that the Five
are" correct in what they
told us that, unlike in
January s 1981, South
Africa is now ready to '
proceed with the im-
plementation of the UN 1
Plan for the , in-
dependence of Namibia,
; Thus, in short, we are
appealing ' that the ,
Western Five show their
good will and give their
necessary support to this
constructive proposal of ;
swapo.'
, SWAPO would like to ;
know the Five's poin( of !
view on' the essence of,;
this proposal. , , , , ,
77l
An.iArrNT to HTP 1
3 mln$. RTP-7 mins. Durham-
12min$.Dukl
Century Oaks
Apartments
IMMEDIATE OCCUPANCY
. '2, 3 Bsdroomi '"i
Flraplaces in Townhousn
Energy Efficient Features
. Up te 2'r Bathe
Jogging Trait ' " . '
10 Apt. Designed lor
nnnlriM '
WasherDryer Connectiont
pool ciud rn
Private PatioBalcony
Tot Lots
Indoor Handball
Racquetball Facilities
i the Handicapped
Mnrlftl Often Dailv
Monday-Friday ifl Saturday 12-4
4701 E. Cornwaltis Road
Phone 544-1781 Today! '
Si' 1
I; i
4 ' '
x
.Share.tfte spirits ,
SHtiicrfl'esriment
light, fresh Salem Lights.
7
(
IF
17
1
"
V
X
mm
fix J't 'yf v
s
TO
7
A
7 JNN, ,
it
- MEWARX Mayor Keooefb Gibson, running for a
..La kf a f . at ff... JJU.U
. a campaisa rally as election remits come in. Gibson fl i d?r: - ,:- , MJiMi-n 'p-d
4- ' will have lo mn sgaJnst Council PresidenlEariHar-. "a-- 'C&V 'V ' , ; t;.lit,
f
Warning: The Surgeon General Has Determined
That Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous to Your Health.
ris in a run off election. Both men have been in
tiirted for miscount lyf flc4
DPt
itiidb.-;.
LIGHTS: 9 mg. "tar", 0.7 mg. nicon'oe, LIGHTS 100 $: 10 mg. "tar". 0.8 r u 'S w. per cigarette by FTC
f0f W;
3i .I'.f
mm;
'&$C' -V.:'
! method.