WINDHOEK, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Namibians went to polls on Friday for the presidential and parliamentary elections.

The voting will last two days and will end on Saturday.

The voters began to cast their votes at 7 a.m. local time on Friday and polling stations will close at 9 p.m. local time. The polling stations will remain open on Saturday.

In the general elections, each voter gets two ballots, one for picking up a candidate for presidency and the other for choosing a party for parliament.

A total of 14 political parties are competing for the fifth post-independence presidential and parliamentary elections in the country.

Seen as favorite to retain power by many political pundits and observers, the South Africa People's Organization (Swapo) will cross swords with its political rivals such as the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP), the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA), the Congress of Democrats (CoD), All People's Party (APP) and the National Democratic Unity Organization (NUDO).

Other contestants are the Republican Party (RP), the Communist Party and Monitor Action Group (MAG).

Various political parties have mainly questioned Swapo's ability to bring about far-reaching economic and developmental change and the perceived high unemployment rate.

Swapo said it should be voted into power because it liberated the country and brought about peace, political stability and development to the uranium-rich African country such as constructing roads, clinics, hospitals and schools even in rural areas.

As a political party and former liberation movement in Namibia, Swapo has been the ruling party in Namibia since independence in 1990.

The party garnered 75 percent of popular votes and 55 out of 78 seats in the parliamentary election in 2004.

Namibia borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana and Zimbabwe to the east, and South Africa to the south and east. It is the second least densely populated country in the world, after Mongolia.