Editing Politics of Namibia (section)

==Separation of powers==
While the [[separation of powers]] is enshrined in the country's constitution, Namibia's civil society and the opposition repeatedly have criticised the overlap between executive and legislature. All [[Cabinet of Namibia|cabinet]] members also sit in the [[National Assembly of Namibia|National Assembly]] and dominate that body—not numerically but by being the superiors to ordinary members.<ref>{{cite news
 |url         = http://www.namibian.com.na/news-articles/national/full-story/archive/2013/march/article/mbumbas-presence-in-cabinet-under-spotlight/
 |title       = Mbumba's presence in Cabinet under spotlight
 |last        = Sasman
 |first       = Catherine
 |date        = 22 March 2013
 |work        = [[The Namibian]]
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://archive.today/20130413164211/http://www.namibian.com.na/news-articles/national/full-story/archive/2013/march/article/mbumbas-presence-in-cabinet-under-spotlight/
 |archive-date = 13 April 2013
 |df          = dmy-all
}}</ref>

===Executive branch===
{{main|Government of Namibia}}
The government is headed by the [[Prime Minister of Namibia|prime minister]], who, together with his or her [[Cabinet of Namibia|cabinet]], is appointed by the president. SWAPO, the primary force behind independence, is still the country's largest party. [[Hage Geingob]] was Namibia's first prime minister. He was appointed on 21 March 1990 and served until 28 August 2002. [[Theo-Ben Gurirab]] was prime minister from 28 August 2002 to 21 March 2005, and [[Nahas Angula]] occupied this position from 21 March 2005 to 4 December 2012. He was succeeded by Hage Geingob, who in turn was succeeded as prime minister by [[Saara Kuugongelwa]] when he became president of Namibia on 21 March 2015.

===Legislative branch===
{{main|Parliament of Namibia}}
[[Image:Tintenpalast, Windhoek.jpg|thumb|The [[Tintenpalast]] in [[Windhoek]], housing the [[Parliament of Namibia]]]]
[[Parliament of Namibia|Parliament]] has [[bicameralism|two chambers]], consisting of a [[National Assembly of Namibia|National Assembly]] ([[lower house]]), elected for a five-year term, and a [[National Council of Namibia|National Council]] ([[upper house]]), elected for a six-year term. The Assembly is the primary [[legislative]] body, with the Council playing more of an advisory role.

From [[Independence of Namibia|Namibian independence]] until 2014 the National Assembly consisted of 78 members, 72 members elected by [[proportional representation]] and 6 members appointed by the president. The [[National Council of Namibia|National Council]] had 26 representatives of the Regional Councils. Every Regional Council in the 13 regions of Namibia elected two representatives to serve on this body.<ref name=GRNleg>{{cite web | url = http://209.88.21.36/opencms/opencms/grnnet/GRNOverview/grnStructure/legislative.html | title = GRN Structure. The Legislature | publisher = [[Government of Namibia]] |access-date = 29 September 2011 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110818165115/http://209.88.21.36/opencms/opencms/grnnet/GRNOverview/grnStructure/legislative.html | archive-date = 18 August 2011}}</ref> Prior to the [[2014 Namibian general election|2014 general elections]] the [[Constitution of Namibia|constitution]] was amended. Since then there are 104 seats in the National Assembly (96 elected, 8 appointed), and 42 seats in the National Council (3 from each region, with the number of regions increased to 14).<ref>{{Cite journal | title=Women and political participation in Namibia and Nigeria: a comparative analysis of women in elective positions | first1=Maryam Omolara| last1=Quadri | first2=Erika K | last2=Thomas | journal=Journal for Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences | publisher=[[University of Namibia]] | volume=7 | issue=2 | date=2018 | issn=2026-7215 | pages=6–9 | url=http://repository.unam.edu.na/bitstream/handle/11070/2426/quadri_women_2018.pdf}}</ref>

===Judicial branch===
{{main|Judicial system of Namibia}}

The highest [[judiciary|judicial]] body is the [[Supreme Court of Namibia|Supreme Court]], whose judges are appointed by the president on the recommendation of the Judicial Service Commission.<ref>constitution of the republic of Namibia article 79</ref> The Supreme Court of Namibia is led by the [[Chief Justice of Namibia]] the highest judicial officer in Namibia.<ref>article 79</ref>
 
The second highest court is the [[High Court]] whose judges are also appointed by the president on recommendation of the Judicial service commission. The [[High court]] is led by the [[Judge-President of Namibia]] who also acts as the [[Deputy Chief Justice of Namibia]]. <ref> article 80 </ref> The [[High court]] has original jurisdiction over all matters within Namibia.<ref>article 80</ref>

The [[Lower Courts of Namibia]] are the lowest courts in Namibia and serve as courts of record. They serve as trial courts.<ref>article 78</ref>

The judicial structure in Namibia parallels that of South Africa. In 1919, [[Roman-Dutch law]] was declared the common law of the territory and remains so to the present.