President Nangolo Mbumba has urged the political parties to be exemplary in their conduct as the nation approaches elections.

Dr. Mbumba says the unity and stability in the country are to the benefit of every citizen, irrespective of their political party membership.

The President emphasised this during a courtesy call by the leadership of Swanu at State House.

"It is a requirement that we start behaving like people who one day will be there to make laws for the whole country, not for some but the whole country. It is also there that you cannot make laws in Parliament while you are fighting in the street; it does not work that way, and therefore we emphasise that the unity of the country is bigger than the party, that stability benefits everybody, and that whoever comes to power must come through the ballot box."

Thus, the President says the expectation from the stakeholders, including politicians, is to ensure that the electoral process is not tainted by allegations of irregularities.

"Let the voters be the arbitrators; be sovereign; what they support, they support; what they don't support, they don't support; even if I get one vote, I should still be proud that somebody supported me; if I get 10, 100,000, it is like that. So all we are appealing as one country is that we are living in a neighbourhood that is tough; things are not easy; it is not the usual only Swapo and Swanu things; we have other younger parties aiming to win the elections."

Swanu leadership concurs that fairness in electoral processes is a shared responsibility.

Unionist-turned-politician Evilastus Kaaronda says that when processes start based on fairness, the end result will likely reflect what is deemed palatable.

"So to that end, there may not be anyone coming out filing grievances when the process was participatory from the very beginning, and we would urge all of us, most specifically our institutions responsible for elections, to make sure that where we can, we allow all people to register and participate in actual voting without hindrances, and during the campaign, one would expect fairness in opportunities given to all political parties, especially through the public-owned media."

The courtesy meeting with Swanu leadership is the first of a series of consultations with political parties on President Mbumba's calendar for the days ahead.

The Presidency says discussions would encompass the importance of voter registration and peaceful campaigns by different political parties.