GABORONE – Botswana governing party is poised to extend its almost six-decade rule of the diamond-rich southern African nation in Wednesday’s elections, securing a second five-year term for President Mokgweetsi Masisi.
Under Botswana’s constitution, the party that controls the 61-seat parliament has the right to select the president and form a government.
Masisi’s Botswana Democratic Party has been in power since independence from Britain in 1966 and currently has 38 seats in the legislature, a majority the president says it is certain to maintain. Final results are expected to be announced by Nov. 1.
The election in world’s largest producer of rough diamonds by value takes place against the backdrop of a market slump that’s taken a heavy toll on state finances, with the government dependent on the gems to generate revenue and foreign exchange.
Faced with a shrinking economy, Masisi’s administration has drawn down on the nation’s reserves to finance the budget and limit expenditure cutbacks, reducing the risk of alienating voters.
“All expectations are that the BDP will win the election,” although its margin of victory may not be overwhelming, said Louw Nel, an analyst at Oxford Economics.
“Opposition parties will point out that the odds are stacked against them and that the BDP-led government never hesitates to use state resources to ensure re-election. But a divided opposition will need to accept some of the blame” because they’ve failed to to take advantage of the government’s policy missteps and failed to articulate a compelling alternative vision for the country, he said.
Masisi, 63, trained as a teacher and worked for the United Nations Children’s Fund before going into politics. He succeeded Ian Khama as president in 2019.
Masisi has trumpeted a new 10-year deal his administration signed with De Beers last year that will give the nation access to more diamonds and help it secure 10 billion pula ($746 million) in development funding. He’s also heralded its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which saw the rapid rollout of vaccines, and highlighted its developmental achievements, unveiling a series of infrastructure projects over recent weeks.
His main challengers are Duma Boko, leader of the Umbrella for Democratic Change, Dumelang Saleshando who heads the Botswana Congress Party and Mephato Reatile of the Botswana Patriotic Front — a party that’s linked to Khama. In a televised debate last week, the opposition leaders accused the ruling party of failing to diversify the economy away from its dependence on diamonds and mismanaging the country’s finances.
Boko and Saleshando have both pledged to raise the minimum wage and create jobs, undertakings that have found resonance in a country with a 28% unemployment rate.
Botswana is the world’s largest producer of rough diamonds by value, with almost all of its gems mined by Debswana — which is jointly owned by the government and De Beers. Global diamond sales have been impacted by oversupply, poor demand from the crucial Chinese market and pressures from lab-grown gems.
(Bloomberg)