GABORONE, Botswana, Nov 1, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Preliminary results from
Botswana's elections showed Friday the party that ruled the diamond-rich
country for nearly six decades had suffered a historic defeat with opposition
groups taking enough seats to control parliament.

Results reported by various counting centres showed the three opposition
parties had together taken 31 of 61 seats in the national legislature at
Wednesday's elections, according to an AFP tally. The results are expected to
be confirmed by the Independent Electoral Commission later Friday with
counting still underway.

President Mokgweetsi Masisi's Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), which has
ruled since the country's independence from Britain in 1966, has won only one
seat so far.

The left-leaning opposition Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), headed by
Harvard-educated human rights lawyer Duma Boko, was leading the count with 19
seats, according to AFP's tally of reporting from the counting centres.

This was followed by seven for the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) 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.

More than one million people were registered to vote, from a population of
2.6 million, with concerns about unemployment and mismanagement in Masisi's
first term leading complaints.

Botswana is the world's second-largest diamond producer behind Russia.