Masisi concedes defeat in election after party’s six-decade rule
Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi has conceded defeat as preliminary results showed his governing party lost its parliamentary majority after nearly six decades in power.
Masisi’s concession on Friday came before the final results were announced, with his Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) trailing in fourth place, according to tallies by the electoral commission.
The main opposition Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) passed the 31-seat threshold needed to secure a majority in parliament, according to results released on state television. This would make its leader, human rights lawyer Duma Boko, the president-elect.
“We got it wrong big time in the eyes of the people,” Masisi told a news conference in the capital, Gaborone.
“We were really convinced of our message. But every indication, by any measure, is that there’s no way that I can pretend that we’re going to form a government.”The president, who was seeking a second five-year term in Wednesday’s election, said he would “step aside”.“I wish to congratulate the opposition on their victory and concede the election,” Masisi said.
The results are expected to be confirmed by the electoral commission later on Friday.
State television said the UDC had won 32 seats, based on results from 55 of the 61 constituencies up for grabs.
Under the country’s electoral system, the first party to take 31 of 61 seats in the legislature will be declared the winner, install its candidate as president and form a government. The BDP has governed the diamond-rich Southern African nation since 1966 and was expected to win.
Masisi said he had called Boko to inform him he was conceding defeat.There was no immediate comment from Boko, 54, who founded the UDC in 2012 to unite opposition groups against the BDP.
“CHANGE IS HERE,” Boko wrote on Facebook as small street celebrations were under way in parts of Gaborone. It is the third time that he has run for president, previously contesting in 2014 and 2019.
The opposition Botswana Congress Party won seven seats and the Botswana Patriotic Front had five seats, with the BDP at just four, the partial tally showed.
Masisi, a 63-year-old former high school teacher and UNICEF worker, had been widely expected to keep his parliamentary majority and serve a second and final term.
Often held up as one of Africa’s greatest success stories, Botswana ranks among the wealthiest and most stable democracies on the continent.- Guardian