How to remove the namespace name without removing the namespace declaration - xslt

Question

I'm still pretty new to XSLT and I have the following XML which I need to remove the namespace. I also found the following XSLT which almost gets the job done with the exception that it will not retain the xmlns declaration.
XML:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<etd_ms:thesis xmlns:etd_ms="http://www.ndltd.org/standards/metadata/etdms/1.0/"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.ndltd.org/standards/metadata/etdms/1.0/ http://www.ndltd.org/standards/metadata/etdms/1.0/etdms.xsd">
<etd_ms:title>Aspects of negritude in the works of two Harlem renaissance authors : Claude McKay and Langston Hughes</etd_ms:title>
<etd_ms:creator>Charles, Asselin</etd_ms:creator>
<etd_ms:subject/>
<etd_ms:publisher>Concordia University</etd_ms:publisher>
<etd_ms:contributor role="advisor">Butovsky, M</etd_ms:contributor>
<etd_ms:date>1980</etd_ms:date>
<etd_ms:type>Electronic Thesis or Dissertation</etd_ms:type>
<etd_ms:identifier>TC-QMG-1</etd_ms:identifier>
<etd_ms:format>text</etd_ms:format>
<etd_ms:identifier>https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/1/1/MK49585.pdf</etd_ms:identifier>
<etd_ms:language>en</etd_ms:language>
<etd_ms:degree>
<etd_ms:name>M.A.</etd_ms:name>
<etd_ms:level>masters</etd_ms:level>
<etd_ms:discipline>Dept. of English</etd_ms:discipline>
<etd_ms:grantor>Concordia University</etd_ms:grantor>
</etd_ms:degree>
</etd_ms:thesis>
and here's the XSLT:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
<xsl:output indent="yes" method="xml" encoding="utf-8" omit-xml-declaration="no"/>
<!-- Stylesheet to remove all namespaces from a document -->
<!-- NOTE: this will lead to attribute name clash, if an element contains
two attributes with same local name but different namespace prefix -->
<!-- Nodes that cannot have a namespace are copied as such -->
<!-- template to copy elements -->
<xsl:template match="*">
<xsl:element name="{local-name()}">
<xsl:apply-templates select="#* | node()"/>
</xsl:element>
</xsl:template>
<!-- template to copy attributes -->
<xsl:template match="#*">
<xsl:attribute name="{local-name()}">
<xsl:value-of select="."/>
</xsl:attribute>
</xsl:template>
<!-- template to copy the rest of the nodes -->
<xsl:template match="comment() | text() | processing-instruction()">
<xsl:copy/>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>
The results is the following:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<thesis xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.ndltd.org/standards/metadata/etdms/1.0/ http://www.ndltd.org/standards/metadata/etdms/1.0/etdms.xsd">
<title>Aspects of negritude in the works of two Harlem renaissance authors : Claude McKay and Langston Hughes</title>
<creator>Charles, Asselin</creator>
<subject/>
<publisher>Concordia University</publisher>
<contributor role="advisor">Butovsky, M</contributor>
<date>1980</date>
<type>Electronic Thesis or Dissertation</type>
<identifier>TC-QMG-1</identifier>
<format>text</format>
<identifier>https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/1/1/MK49585.pdf</identifier>
<language>en</language>
<degree>
<name>M.A.</name>
<level>masters</level>
<discipline>Dept. of English</discipline>
<grantor>Concordia University</grantor>
</degree>
</thesis>
It's almost there, with the exception that I need to keep the xmlns declaration, so ultimatly the root element should be something like:
<thesis xmlns="http://www.ndltd.org/standards/metadata/etdms/1.0/"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.ndltd.org/standards/metadata/etdms/1.0/ http://www.ndltd.org/standards/metadata/etdms/1.0/etdms.xsd">
Can someone help me resolving this issue? Thanks.

Answer 1

Change
<xsl:element name="{local-name()}">
to
<xsl:element name="{local-name()}" namespace="http://www.ndltd.org/standards/metadata/etdms/1.0/">