Page "History of Namibia" Paragraph 63

The 11-month transition period ended relatively smoothly.

Political prisoners were granted amnesty, discriminatory legislation was repealed, South Africa withdrew all its forces from Namibia, and some 42, 000 refugees returned safely and voluntarily under the auspices of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees ( UNHCR ).

Almost 98 % of registered voters turned out to elect members of the Constituent Assembly.

The elections were held in November 1989 and were certified as free and fair by the UN Special Representative, with SWAPO taking 57 % of the vote, just short of the two-thirds necessary to have a free hand in revising the framework constitution that had been formulated not by UN Commissioner Bernt Carlsson but by the South African appointee Louis Pienaar.

The opposition Democratic Turnhalle Alliance received 29 % of the vote.

The Constituent Assembly held its first meeting on 21 November 1989 and resolved unanimously to use the 1982 Constitutional Principles in Namibia's new constitution.