Namibia's ruling party wins landslide election with 80 percent of the vote

JOHANNESBURG – Namibia's electoral commission says the country's ruling party has won a landslide victory in the parliamentary and presidential election.

The commission announced on Monday that the ruling SWAPO party won 80 percent of the vote in the parliamentary election. In the presidential election, the party's candidate Hage Geingob got 87 percent of votes.

Geingob's closest rival, McHenry Venaani of the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance, earned five percent of the vote.

Namibians voted on Friday, using electronic voting machines instead of ballot paper for the first time. The commission said around 72 percent of Namibia's 1.2 million eligible voters participated.

Geingob will be inaugurated on March 21, 2015.

The SWAPO party has ruled Namibia since independence in 1990.