Botswana’s Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) swept to power in the landlocked southern African country on Friday, taking 35 of 61 seats in parliament and ousting the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) after 58 years.
The BDP had secured just two seats, the electoral commission announced. It had ruled the former British protectorate – whose economy depends on diamond mining and wildlife tourism – since independence in 1966.
Speaking in Gaborone, President Mokgweetsi Masisi acknowledged defeat, saying the BDP would respect the result.
Observers had expected the BDP to retain power in the vast country with a population of just 2.5 million.
The party holding a majority in parliament appoints the president.
The likelihood is that UDC candidate Duma Boko, a 54-year-old human rights lawyer who studied at the elite U.S. university Harvard, will be elected to serve as president for the next five years.
Boko had campaigned on a platform of job creation and increasing minimum pay and pensions. Botswana lacks industrial development and has high unemployment.
After diamond mining, wildlife tourism is the main source of foreign exchange, with the Okavango Marshes and the largest elephant population in Africa major drawcards.