The ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) led by President Mokgweetsi Masisi has retained power but has lost a number of seats in its traditional strongholds, Chief Justice Terrence Rannowane announced on Friday.
Announcing partial results, Rannowane said the BDP had won 29 of the 57 elected parliamentary seats against 17 for the combined opposition.
More results were yet to be tallied, but as things stand, the BDP was assured of an unassailable victory.
”I, therefore, have the honour to declare to the nation of Botswana and the world at large that Mokgweetsi Masisi is the elected President of the Republic of Botswana,” Rannowane announced.
Under Botswana law, the leader of the political party with the highest number of votes automatically becomes the president.
Masisi, who was completing the term of his predecessor Ian Khama, becomes the fifth president of Botswana.
According to the results tally so far announced, the ruling party managed to snatch all the constituencies held by the opposition the capital Gaborone and its environs.
Similarly, the opposition made inroads into BDP strongholds in the central part of the country by winning many seats in the area for the first in history.
KO/jn/APA