Namibian elections declared 'free and fair'; 97 per cent voter turnout 'impressive,' 72 seated in Constituent Assembly.

The sight was impressive: hundreds of ordinary people standing in line, often for hours under a scorching sun,, waiting to vote in a process that would bring Namibia its long-awaited independence. And Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar described the results as equally impressive"'. He cited the 97 per cent turn-out and the orderly conduct of the elections as a sign of the political maturity of the Namibian people.

On 14 November, three days after the five-day polling period (7-11 November) ended, he reported that of 701,483 who registered, 670,879 had voted. Only 1.4 per cent of ballots had been rejected as invalid.

Namibia, the youngest democracy, "has given the whole world a shining lesson in democracy: exemplary as to commitment, restraint and tolerance", said Martti Ahtisaari, the Secretary-General's Special Representative in Windhoek, on 14 November.

"In this election, there have been no losers-the whole people of Namibia have been victorious, united in their dedication to peace, reconciliation and the future", he added, declaring that the electoral process had "at each stage been free and fair", and that it had been conducted to his satisfaction as required by the settlement plan.

Voters elected 72 delegates, representing seven political parties, to a Constituent Assembly. Among them were 5 women and 9 from the Territory's white minority of about 100,000. The black majority numbers more than 800,000.

Subsequently, 21 March was set as the date for independence.

The remarkably peaceful elections, and subsequent ballot counting and tabulation, were overseen by 1,700 electoral supervisors and 1,203 police monitors, part of the 8,000-strong United Nations Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG), which began its work in March 1989.

Mr. Ahtisaari hailed "the immensely conscientious attention given to each single ballot-paper by a most professional staff", both from UNTAG and the office of Namibia Administrator-General Louis A. Pienaar.

Mr. Perez de Cuellar said he was confident that Assembly members would frame the new document with the same enthusiasm and patriotism displayed during the election process. For Namibia must become a united nation where the inhabitants of all political persuasions will be able to enjoy their inalienable rights without fear or favour."

In New York on 20 November, the Security Council congratulated the people of Namibia and reaffirmed that the UN would continue to play an important role in supervising the transition to independence. And South Africa said that it was ready "to work constructively with the future government of Namibia".

Elections in Namibia have been held "in conformity with established UN standards of decolonization", the Special Committee on decolonization declared on 4 December. A buoyant mood

The mood was buoyant and conciliatory in Windhoek's German colonial-style Tinten Palast-Ink Palace-on 21 November, as the Assembly met for the first time. Mr. Ahtisaari was there. The president of South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), Sam Nujoma, opened the session as leader of the largest political party represented in the Assembly.

SWAPO secured 41 Assembly seats, winning 57.3 per cent of the votes cast. Under the broad UN independence plan for Namibia, a two-thirds majority-48 votes-is needed to adopt constitutional provisions.

The Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA) took 21 seats with 28.6 per cent of the vote. The remaining 10 seats went to the United Democratic Front (4), Action Christian National (3), and the Federal Convention of Namibia, Namibia National Front and National Patriotic Front (1 each).

Three other parties did not obtain enough votes to win seats: the Christian Democratic Action for Social Justice, Namibia National Democratic Party and SWAPO-Democrats.

By secret ballot, Assembly members elected SWAPO member Hage Geingob as Assembly Chairman. The Assembly then decided by acclamation that the constitution would be drafted on the basis of a set of principles endorsed by the Security Council calling for a multi-party democracy with an independent judiciary and a bill of fundamental human rights.

The text of the 1982 Principles concerning the Constituent Assembly and the Constitution for an Independent Namibia (S1/5287) was formally communicated to the Assembly by Mn Ahtisaari at the inaugural session. The SecretaryGeneral's Special Representative was empowered to follow the work of the constituent body and make observations on its procedures and functioning.

The motion in favour of the 1982 Principles was presented by TheoBen Gurirab of SWAPO. During SWAPO's long years in exile, its leaders had called for a one-party state, but Mr. Nujoma told the press on 15 November that his organization would certainly "not impose its will on others, nor a one-party state against the wishes of the people".

He also sounded a note of racial reconciliation: "We offer a hand of friendship to the whites and invite them to stay and live with us in an independent Namibia", he said.

Riding the wave of conciliation, the Assembly dispatched in late December a first draft of the constitution to three independent legal specialists in South Africa, who will make sure that it conforms to international standards.

Last minute worries

Worries over whether fair elections could take place in a Namibia still run by a South African-appointed administration persisted among African countries in particular during the weeks leading to the elections. Much of the anxiety centred on the possible presence of former members of the Koevoet paramilitary unit within the South West Africa Police (SWAPOL).

Only eight days before the voting began, the Security Council on 31 October reiterated its demand for the complete disbandment of "all remaining paramilitary and ethnic forces and commando units, in particular the Koevoet and the South West Africa Territorial Force as well as the complete dismantling of their command structures, and other defence-related institutions".

By resolution 643 (1989), the Council also demanded the immediate repeal of "such remaining restrictive and discriminatory laws and regulations as inhibit the holding of free and fair elections and that no such new laws be introduced".

The Council endorsed the Secretary-General's view that Proclamation AG 8-the law under which the territory's system of ethnic administration was created-should be repealed.

Earlier that day in Windhoek, Administrator-General Pienaar had announced that the remaining exKoevoet members still serving in SWAPOL "had been fully demobilized". UNTAG confirmed the demobilization.

Conditions exist

Four days before elections-on 3 November-Mr. Perez de Cuellar told the Security Council that "conditions exist for the holding of free and fair elections in Namibia at this time".

Koevoet had been disbanded and its members demobilized, the Secretary-General stated (S/20943) in a report on 3 November. The "Bushmen battalions" had also been demobilized and the UN was making "new and long-term arrangements for their rehabilitation and self-sufficiency".

In the same report, the Secretary-General called "fraudulent" alleged UNTAG reports regarding an imminent invasion into Namibia from Angola by SWAPO. Security Council members on 3 November expressed "profound concern" over the incident and its potential implications for the elections. On 4 November, South Africa (S/20947) told the Secretary-General it had no evidence that UNTAG was responsible for these reports.

As for allegations that SWAPO was detaining Namibians in camps in Angola and Zambia, a mission sent by Mr. Ahtisaari to the area reported (S/20883/Add.1) on 11 October that it had found no detainees there. SWAPO also declared that it no longer held any detainees.

However, the mission said it could not account for 315 of the more than 1,100 individuals originally reported missing or detained. By the end of October, the status of 263 among them was still unknown.

"I assure you that for my part the search is not over. I will not disband this mission on detainees", Mr. Ahtisaari told the press on 11 October as he released the mission's report. Mr. Perez de Cuellar reiterated on 3 November that UNTAG considered this "an important humanitarian task" and would continue to try to clarify all outstanding cases.

While the past was still being sorted out in Namibia, its future was already dawning. By the end of December. the United Nations was speeding up plans to help Namibia's national reconstruction and development through the transition to independence and beyond. A new African nation was on the horizon.