GABORONE, Botswana (AP) — Botswana’s opposition candidate Duma Boko’s party was declared the winner of elections Friday over incumbent President Mokgweetsi Masisi, in a seismic shift that ended the ruling party’s 58 years in power since its independence from Great Britain.

Masisi conceded defeat even before final results were announced, and his Botswana Democratic Party slipped to fourth place in the parliamentary elections in what appeared to be a humiliating rejection by voters and a landslide victory for the main opposition party. .

Hours later, Chief Justice Terence Rannowane announced that the opposition party Umbrellas for Democratic Change had won the majority of seats in the election, making its candidate, Boko, the southern African country’s next president. , what is one of the largest producers of mined diamonds in the world.

Masisi said he had called Boko to inform him that he conceded defeat.

Final election results have yet to be formally declared, but Rannowane said the UDC had reached the 31-seat threshold for a majority.

“I concede the election,” Masisi said at an early morning news conference, two days after the vote. “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 next inauguration and cheering on my successor. You will enjoy my support.”

Masisi’s BDP dominated politics in Botswana for almost six decades, since independence 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.

“We lost this election massively,” said Masisi, a 63-year-old former high school teacher and UNICEF employee. “I haven’t packed a shoe. “I didn’t expect it,” he added.

Boko is a 54-year-old lawyer and Harvard Law School graduate who also ran in 2014 and 2019. He did not immediately comment, but posted on his official X page: “Botswana first” with an image of a sign SVP campaign poster with the words “Change is here”.

Botswana has been considered one of Africa’s most stable democracies and is considered a post-colonial success story, having built one of the highest standards of living in the region through an economy that relies heavily on diamonds. Botswana is the world’s second largest producer of natural diamonds behind Russia and has been responsible for all The largest diamonds found in the last decade.

But Botswana faces new challenges and the feeling of change became evident when a drop in global demand for diamonds severely affected the economy, becoming the central theme of the campaign.

Unemployment rose to more than 27% this year, and significantly higher for young people, as the government saw a sharp decline in diamond revenue. Masisi and his party have faced criticism for not doing enough to diversify the economy and the nation has been forced to adopt recent austerity measures.

Even the BDP admitted throughout its campaign that a policy change was necessary and tried to convince voters that it was capable of leading the country out of its economic problems. Diamonds account for more than 80% of Botswana’s exports and a quarter of its GDP, according to the World Bank.

Masisi said the country had barely sold any diamonds since April through his company Debswana, which the government jointly owns with diamond miner De Beers.

Botswana’s general election decides the composition of its Parliament and then lawmakers elect the president. The party that obtains the majority will be in a position to elect its presidential candidate. Botswana’s five post-independence presidents have been from the BDP.

The BDP was one of the longest serving parties in Africa and was still in power and its abrupt defeat came as a surprise after what was expected to be a close race. continued an equally momentous change in neighboring South Africa, where the long-ruling African National Congress lost its 30-year majority in May elections and was forced to share power for the first time in a coalition government.

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This story has been updated to correct the spelling of President Mokgweetsi Masisi’s name.

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