Botswana's President Mokgweetsi Masisi on Friday conceded defeat after preliminary results showed his ruling Botswana Democratic party lost its parliamentary majority in this week's election.
"I wish to congratulate the opposition on their victory and concede the election," the 63-year-old told reporters at a press conference.
Preliminary results from Wednesday's poll showed three opposition parties had together amassed at least 31 of 61 seats in the national legislature.
The Independent Electoral Commission is expected laer on Friday to confirm the results which will terminate the BDF's rule over the country since its independence from Britain in 1966.
More than one million people from a population of 2.6 million were registered to vote on Wednesday. Main concerns highlighted in the prelude to the poll ranged from unemployment to mismanagement in Masisi's first term.
"Opposition parties have garnered more than half of the parliamentary seats," the independent Mmegi newspaper wrote on Facebook.
"This means ruling Botswana Democratic Party has now officially lost state power."
Change
The left-leaning opposition Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) had already secured more than 24 seats, party official Mike Keakopa told the French news agency AFP.
He said it was aiming to reach 31 seats to become the outright winner and hand the presidency to its leader Duma Boko.
The two other opposition parties, the Botswana Congress Party and Botswana Patriotic Front, had taken around a dozen seats together.
"Botswana's new dawn as Boko, UDC rise," Mmegi said in a version of its front page posted on Facebook.
The UDC swept a separate ballot at Wednesday's polls for the local councils in what was seen as an indication of the trend for the national vote.
Boko, 54, a human rights lawyer, created the UDC in 2012 to unite parties against the BDP. It is the third time that he has run for the presidency.
"CHANGE IS HERE," he wrote on social media as his party's strong showing became clear.
There have also been allegations of corruption and nepotism during the reigh on Masisi's government. The gap between the rich and poor is one of the largest in the world, according to the World Bank.
"The people in the country are clamouring for change, they are yearning for something refreshingly different," Boko said in an interview in July with the South African channel ENCA .
"We are expecting more from this new Botswana," said cleaner, Pelontle Ditshotlo.
The BDP had not delivered on its promises and the cost of living was too high, added the 41-year-old.
"When you are in parliament, we need to know that you listen to us, you are with us."
