The SWAPO Democrats, also known as SWAPO-D, was a political party formed from a break within the South West Africa People's Organization in 1978. Formed in Sweden on 10 June 1978, the party was led by former leading SWAPO members Andreas Shipanga (President), Kenneth Abrahams, Ottilie Abrahams (Secretary-General), and Emil Appolus[1] in response to a major party split within SWAPO which resulted in the forced detention of Shipanga and Solomon Mfifma during the 1975-76 SWAPO crisis, also known as the "Shipanga Rebellion".[2]
SWAPO Democrats | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | SWAPO-D |
| President | Andreas Shipanga |
| Secretary-General | Ottilie Abrahams |
| Founded | 10 June 1978 |
| Dissolved | 1991 |
| Split from | SWAPO |
SWAPO-D were generally seen by SWAPO as traitors and collaborators with the apartheid regime.[2] However, they were still following a comparable political course, boycotting the 1975–1977 Turnhalle Constitutional Conference and the resulting 1978 legislative elections.[3] In the mid-1980s SWAPO-D joined the Transitional Government, in which all parties swore an allegiance to the Republic of South Africa.[2] In the 1989 elections, SWAPO-D failed to win a seat, obtaining 3,161 votes and was disbanded in 1991.[4]
References
edit- ^ "Veteran Namibian politician Appolus dies". The Namibian. 30 May 2005. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
- ^ a b c Sellström, Tor (2002). Sweden and national liberation in Southern Africa : Vol. 2, Solidarity and assistance 1970-1994. Nordiska Afrikainstitutet. p. 325. ISBN 91-7106-448-6. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
- ^ Weinberg, Paul (March 1979). "The S.W.A. / Namibia Election" (PDF). Reality. 11 (2). University of KwaZulu-Natal: 6–7. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
- ^ "Liberation pioneer dies". The Namibian. 11 May 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
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