Mokgweetsi Masisi, the president of Botswana, announced his country’s defeat in Friday’s general election, ending the governing party’s 58-year rule.
Masisi made the surrender prior to the announcement of the final results, which showed his Botswana Democratic Party in fourth position after the legislative elections.
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The primary opposition party, Umbrella for Democratic Change, has a significant lead in the preliminary results, making its candidate, Duma Boko, the front-runner to become president of one of the largest diamond-mining nations in the world.
Masisi said he had called Boko to inform him he was conceding defeat.
“I concede the election,” Masisi said in an early-morning press conference two days after the election. “I am proud of our democratic processes. Although I wanted a second term, I will respectfully step aside and participate in a smooth transition process.”
“I look forward to attending the coming inauguration and cheering on my successor. He will enjoy my support.”
Masisi’s BDP dominated politics in Botswana for nearly six decades, since independence from Britain in 1966. The nation of just 2.5 million people will now be governed by another party for the first time in its democratic history.
