Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi’s party suffered a crushing defeat in general elections, according to preliminary tallies Friday, losing its nearly six-decade hold on power in the diamond-rich country.
Reporting from counting centres showed that three opposition parties had together won 31 of 61 seats in the national legislature at Wednesday’s elections, according to an AFP tally, meaning Masisi’s Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) had no chance of taking a majority.
The results are expected to be confirmed by the Independent Electoral Commission later Friday.
More than one million people were registered to vote on Wednesday, from a population of 2.6 million, with concerns about unemployment and mismanagement in Masisi’s first term a leading complaint in the arid nation.
The BDP, which has ruled since independence from Britain in 1966, only won a single seat so far, according to AFP’s tally of reporting early Friday, with counting still underway.
Leading the opposition camp was the left-leaning opposition Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), headed by Harvard-educated human rights lawyer and presidential candidate Duma Boko, with 19 seats.
Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) presidential candidate Duma Boko (L) casts his ballot in Gaborone on October 30, 2024, during Botswana’s general election.
Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) presidential candidate Duma Boko (L) casts his ballot in Gaborone on October 30, 2024, during Botswana’s general election. © Monirul Bhuiyan, AFP
This was followed by seven for the Botswana Congress Party and five for the Botswana Patriotic Front.
Under Botswana’s election system, the first party to take 31 of the 61 parliamentary seats will be declared the winner and install its candidate as president. In the lead-up to the vote, commentators had raised the possibility of Botswana’s first hung parliament.
Also Read: Botswana Opposition Allege ZANU PF is Helping Ruling Party Rig Elections
ZANU PF Blamed for Botswana Ruling Party Loss of Elections
The defeat of Masisi’s party has been attributed to ‘interference’ into the elections by Zimbabwe’s ZANU PF, according to former cabinet Minister Walter Mzembi. Writing on X he said voters were out to punish the ruling party for that.
The greatest undoing of any personality , political party is to invite the visible and physical intervention of neighbours into internal political contestations in the name of pseudo solidarity labels . Voters hate and punish political intrusion and interference , the hallmark of undermining the sovereignty of other Nations . Some political friendships are very costly . Take heed @SADC_News @EliasMagosi you are hugely responsible and caught up in electoral outcome.
Batswana Protest Against Zanu-PF Interference in Their Country’s Elections
SCORES of angry Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) supporters marched to Zimbabwe’s Embassy in Botswana to register their disgruntlement over alleged Zanu PF’s interference in their country’s internal politics.
Recently, Zanu PF secretary for legal affairs, Patrick Chinamasa addressed rallies in the neighbouring country amid allegations the revolutionary party had deployed apparatchiks to help rig the October 30 polls. This was in favour of incumbent President Mokgweetsi Masisi of the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP)).
UDC led by Advocate Duma Gideon Boko is agitated by Zanu PF’s meddling prompting its supporters to picket Ambassador Henry Mukonoweshuro’s offices last weekend.
Media reports say Dr Phenyo Butale read the petition spelling out grievances and demands, which included that Zimbabweans should refrain from poking their noses in Botswana’s domestic affairs.
‘New dawn’
“Botswana’s new dawn as Boko, UDC rise,” the independent Mmegi newspaper said in a version of its front page posted on Facebook.
“BDP faces crushing parliamentary, council defeat,” it wrote.
The UDC swept a separate ballot at Wednesday’s polls for the local councils in what was seen as an indication of the trend for the national vote.
Boko, 54, created the UDC in 2012 to unite parties against the bulwark of the BDP. It is the third time that he has run for the presidency.
“CHANGE IS HERE,” he wrote on Facebook as his party’s strong showing became clear.
A key concern of voters was unemployment which has risen to 27 percent this year, with younger people most affected, and a slump in the economy. This was due in part to weakened diamond sales, Botswana’s single biggest revenue earner, with growth projected to slow to one percent in 2017. 2024.
There have also been allegations of corruption, nepotism and mismanagement by Masisi’s government, while the gap between the rich and poor is one of the largest in the world, according to the World Bank.
“It’s been much too long to be operating under a system that has consistently produced the same, at best, mediocre results,” Boko said in an interview with South African channel ENCA in July.
“The people in the country are clamouring for change, they are yearning for something refreshingly different,” he said.
The BDP’s popularity has declined over the decades, dipping to under 50 percent for the first time at the 2014 elections when Ian Khama, son of Botswana’s first president, Sir Seretse Khama, was president.
But the party had expected to retain control of the southern African nation, with Masisi, 63, saying on voting day “victory is certain”.
The new government will need to focus on weaning the country off its diamond dependency, analysts said.
“The first priority for the next government or president would be to stabilise the economy, create a degree of strategic certainty in the mining sector,” independent political commentator Olopeng Rabasimane said.
“The second has to be employment generation, especially for young people. The third one would be diversification of the economy away from dependency on diamonds.”
Harare Live- (AFP)
