S.A. police round up S.W.A.P.O. men as Namibia poll begins

Press, 5 December 1978, Page 9

S.A. police round up S.W.A.P.O. men as Namibia poll begins

NZPA-Reuter

Windhoek

The people of Namibia (South-West Africa) have begun voting in a controversial pre-independcnce election, boycotted by several political parties.

-I The five-day poll is being; 5 contested by parties from ; the far Right to the Centre; 1 of the political spectrum,: 5 but a number of others, in-; eluding the South-West; ; Africa People’s Organisation recognised by the United; .Nations as the sole represen-i tative of the people of the! territory, are not takings part. ! The vote began after two I bombings in central Wind-., ■hoek and the arrest of six,: 15.W.A.P.0. leaders and;, scores of supporters. The - j police in the South African-ji iruled territory have blamed;: jS.W.A.P.O. for the blasts, al-1: I though the nationalist move-; iment has denied responsi-.: I bility. ; The election has also been. rejected by Western mem-: bers of the United Nations); Security Council, who said they would consider the re-1 suit null and void. They; have been negotiating with); South Africa for a second United Nations-supervised 11 election before Namibia be-p comes independent. The election is for a 50seat Constituent Assembly, which is empowered to draft and adopt a Constitution and i to negotiate independence i from South Africa. i The vote will be for parties, not for individual candidates, and the group most likely to gain a majority in the assembly is the Demo- ; cratic Turnhalle Alliance, a < ! multi-racial party which advocates a government with ;

: entrenched ethnic represen-! tation. But perhaps the most; ; significant factor in the poll will be the percentage of the population who vote in a iballot that is by no means,; 'representative of the whole; political spectrum. The Security Council is ; today expected to meet at the request of the United : Nation’s African group to | again condemn the elections. The Security Council has | also held out the threat of | sanctions against South ; Africa if it failed to comply j 'with the council-endorsed I independence plan for the, i territory, involving elections ' , .'supervised by a large United ! Nations military and civilian , .force. , ! This plan, drafted by the, council’s five Western mem- , bers — the United States,!] (Britain. Canada, France, and! i West Germany — has been!, ; the subject of intensive ne- , gotiations for more than 18 ( months. In a report to the Security I Council on talks he held last ! week with the South African 1 ; Foreign Minister (Mr Pik ’ Botha), Dr Waldheim said J Pretoria was now prepared ‘ to conclude its consultations ! on the United Nations plan ' during the course of this 1 month. Observers said South i Africa, which has had some I reservations, had now appar- i ently committed itself to a 1 year-end deadline for a final i answer. ’ Among those it will con- i suit are the Namibian lead- j

; ers being chosen in this week's voting. ; South Africa also reaffirmed that it would retain authority in the territory pending implementation of ;the United Nations plan. There had been some ap- ; prehension that it might turn over government in the former German colony to those leaders emerging from this week’s balloting. No move is expected by the council to invoke sanctions against South Africa ias threatened in its November 13 resolution, unless' Pretoria’s final response to the United Nations plan is ! regarded as unacceptable. South Africa has promised to try to persuade the; ! newly-elected leaders this ) month to co-operate in im-; ; plementing the United; ! Nations package, which calls; I for up to 7500 troops and! more than 1000 civilians to ■ supervise pre-independence; ; elections. According to Dr Waldheim’s report, South Africa has now also agreed to recommend that the date for) electons be set seven months) after the entry of the United! Nations force into Namibia.; It had previously suggested; a shorter period. But despite repeated assurances by South Africa; that it would co-operate in the implementation of the; United Nations plan, it remained uncertain what), would happen if the leaders | elected this week refused to go along with it.