Breaking: Botswana's 58-year political dynasty ends in surprise election twist
Early vote count shows unprecedented shift in Botswanas political landscape as ruling party loses majority. Opposition coalition takes lead in most constituencies making way for first-ever power change
In a ground-breaking turn of events President Mokgweetsi Masisi has accepted defeat after his party lost its parliament control (a first since the mid-1960s)
The local news sources showed that Duma Bokoʼs opposition group - Umbrella for Democratic Change got way ahead in vote counting; winning 25 seats while the long-standing Botswana Democratic Party managed to secure just one seat out of 36 counted districts
Although I wanted to stay on as your president‚ I respect the will of the people and I congratulate the president-elect
The voting results so far point to these numbers:
- 25 seats won by UDC
- 1 seat secured by BDP
- 36 total districts counted
- 31 seats needed for majority
This south-african nation of 2‚3 million people - known as worlds top diamond producer by value has kept its democracy stable since britʼs left almost 60 years ago. Yet recent diamond market problems hit the economy hard making it tough to grow other business areas
The pre-election experts thought BDP would win again but the real numbers showed different picture. State radio and Mmegi newspaper both confirm: opposition groups got more than half seats in the house that picks countrys leader
