Botswana’s incumbent President Mokgweetsi Masisi has conceded election defeat after the country’s ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) lost its parliamentary majority in this week’s election, according to preliminary results.
The preliminary results showed on Friday (1 November) that Masisi’s party – which had been in power for 58 years – failed to win enough seats to govern. The final results of the election that are expected later on Friday could thus give a rise to a new head of state, and by extension, bring to an end, the nearly six-decade-long dominance of the BDP. Masisi’s party has been reported as having lost majority seats to Duma Boko of the Coalition Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), and other presidential aspirants. While the UDC had won 28 seats out of the 61 seats in parliament the BDP had won only 3, state television has revealed.
In Botswana, a party needs to win at least 31 seats to get the majority needed to form a government, thus the foregone conclusion that Masisi has lost the vote. The incumbent’s presidency has been marred by high unemployment, which has risen to 27% this year, and a slump in the economy due in part to weakened diamond sales, Botswana’s single biggest revenue earner. Another key concern of voters were allegations of corruption, nepotism and mismanagement by Masisi’s government, which is seen as contributing to the record-high gap between the rich and poor in the southern African nation.