Gaborone, Oct. 30, (dpa/GNA) – Polls opened in Botswana on Wednesday to elect a new parliament in an election widely expected to see a victory for the governing Botswana Democratic Party (BDP).
The BDP has ruled the former British colony, which has a population of around 2.5 million people, since the country’s independence 58 years ago.
As the party that wins a majority of the 61 seats in parliament selects the head of state, it is highly likely that President Mokgweetsi Masisi will be re-elected for a second five-year term.
Masisi, a former teacher who once worked for the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF, appeared confident after casting his vote on Wednesday morning.
“We always triumph over our opponents,” the 63-year-old said at a polling station in his home village of Moshupa, around 60 kilometres west of the capital Gaborone.
Apart from Masisi, the Supreme Court has approved three other presidential candidates: Duma Boko of the opposition alliance Umbrella for Democratic Change, Mephato Reatile of the Botswana Patriotic Front and Dumelang Saleshando, leader of the Botswana Congress Party.
Despite its wealth of diamonds, the southern African country suffers from weak economic growth, a lack of industrial development and high unemployment.
Besides mining, the safari industry is Botswana’s largest earner of foreign exchange.
The country also has the largest elephant population in the world, with around 130,000 of the animals recorded.
GNA