National Council (Namibia)

{{Short description|Upper house of the Parliament of Namibia}} {{Infobox legislature | background_color = #F0001C | name = National Council | coa_pic = Coat of arms of Namibia.svg | coa_res = 150px | legislature = 7th National Council | house_type = Upper House | body = Parliament of Namibia | foundation = 23 February 1993<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.parliament.na/index.php/national-council |title=National Council |access-date=2020-05-08 |archive-date=2021-05-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513034934/https://parliament.na/index.php/national-council |url-status=dead }}</ref> | leader1_type = Chairperson | leader1 = Lukas Sinimbo Muha | party1 = SWAPO | election1 = 15 December 2020<ref>{{Cite news | title=MPs urged to finalise constituency fund bill | last=Iileka | first=Sakeus | newspaper=The Namibian | date=16 December 2020 | page=3 | url=https://www.namibian.com.na/207210/archive-read/MPs-urged-to-finalise-constituency-fund-bill | access-date=27 September 2025 | archive-date=13 April 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413091738/https://www.namibian.com.na/207210/archive-read/MPs-urged-to-finalise-constituency-fund-bill | url-status=dead}}</ref> | leader2_type = Deputy Chairperson | leader2 = Victoria Kauma | party2 = SWAPO | election2 = 9 December 2019 | members = 42 | term_length = 5 years | structure1 = National Council Namibia 2026.svg | structure1_res = 250px | political_groups1 = '''Government''' ('''39''') {{legend|#F0001C|SWAPO (39)}}'''Official opposition''' ('''2''') {{legend|#0066CC|PDM (2)}}'''Other parties''' ('''1''') {{legend|#314BB2|UDF (1)}} | committees1 = | joint_committees = | voting_system1 = Indirect election by Regional Councils | last_election1 = 26 November 2025 | session_room = National Council Namibia.jpg | session_res = | session_alt = | meeting_place = National Council Building, Windhoek, Khomas Region, Namibia | website = [http://www.parliament.na Parliament of Namibia] | footnotes = }} {{Politics of Namibia}}

The '''National Council''' is the upper chamber of Namibia's bicameral Parliament. It reviews bills passed by the lower chamber and makes recommendations for legislation of regional concern to the lower chamber.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.parliament.na/index.php/footer-history|title=History|website=www.parliament.na|access-date=2020-04-19|archive-date=2020-07-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200722204205/https://www.parliament.na/index.php/footer-history|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The 42 National Council members are indirectly elected by regional councils for a term of five years.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://data.ipu.org/content/namibia|title=Namibia|date=July 5, 2018|website=New Parline: the IPU’s Open Data Platform (beta)}}{{Dead link|date=December 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Each of the 14 regional councils chooses three of its members to serve on the National Council.<ref name=Nigeria>{{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> The last regional council elections were held on 26 November 2025.

Political party distribution in the {{As of|2025|alt=current}} National Council is as follows:<ref>{{Cite news | title=First independent to serve as MP | last=Iikela | first=Sakeus | newspaper=The Namibian | date=14 December 2020 | page=3 | url=https://www.namibian.com.na/97362/read/First-independent-to-serve-as-MP}}</ref> * South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) - 39 seats * Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) - 2 seats * United Democratic Front (UDF) - 1 seat

The National Council meets in the capital Windhoek in the National Council Building next to the Tintenpalast. The chairperson as of December 2020 is Lukas Muha.

==Election results== {{Citation needed|date=December 2025}} {| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;" ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Political Party ! scope="col" colspan="8"| Election Year |- ! scope="col" | 1992 ! scope="col" | 1998 ! scope="col" | 2004 ! scope="col" | 2010 ! scope="col" | 2015 ! scope="col" | 2020 ! scope="col" | 2025 |- | align="left" | South-West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) | align="center" | 19 | align="center" | 21 | align="center" | 24 | align="center" | 24 | align="center" | 40 | align="center" | 28 | align="center" | 39 |- | align="left" | Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) | align="center" | 6 | align="center" | 4 | align="center" | 1 | align="center" | 1 | align="center" | 1 | align="center" | 2 | align="center" | 2 |- | align="left" | United Democratic Front (UDF) | align="center" | 1 | align="center" | 1 | align="center" | 1 | align="center" | 1 | align="center" | - | align="center" | 2 | align="center" | 1 |- | align="left" | National Unity Democratic Organisation (NUDO) | align="center" | - | align="center" | - | align="center" | - | align="center" | - | align="center" | 1 | align="center" | 1 | align="center" | - |- | align="left" | Landless People's Movement (LPM) | align="center" | - | align="center" | - | align="center" | - | align="center" | - | align="center" | - | align="center" | 6 | align="center" | - |- | align="left" | Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) | align="center" | - | align="center" | - | align="center" | - | align="center" | - | align="center" | - | align="center" | 2 | align="center" | - |- | align="left" | Independent | align="center" | - | align="center" | - | align="center" | - | align="center" | - | align="center" | - | align="center" | 1 | align="center" | - |- | align="left" | '''Total''' | align="center" | '''26''' | align="center" | '''26''' | align="center" | '''26''' | align="center" | '''26''' | align="center" | '''42''' | align="center" | '''42''' | align="center" | '''42''' |- |}

==See also== [[File:Parlament Windhuk.JPG|thumb|Tintenpalast, the former meeting place of the National Council]] *National Assembly of Namibia - the lower chamber of Parliament *History of Namibia *Legislative Branch *List of Chairpersons of the National Council of Namibia *List of national legislatures

==References== {{reflist}}

{{National upper houses}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:National Council Of Namibia}} Category:National Council (Namibia) Category:Government of Namibia Namibia Category:Windhoek Category:Parliament of Namibia Category:1993 establishments in Namibia