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...