Diamond-rich Botswana aims to extend ruling party’s 58-year rule – BNN Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) — Botswana’s ruling party is poised to extend its nearly six-decade rule of the diamond-rich southern African country in elections on Wednesday, securing a second five-year term for President Mokgweetsi Masisi.

According to Botswana’s constitution, the party that controls the 61-seat parliament has the right to choose the president and form the 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 retain. The final results are expected to be announced by November 1.

The election of the world’s largest rough diamond producer by value comes amid a market downturn that has taken a heavy toll on public finances as the government depends on the gems for revenue and foreign exchange.

Faced with an economic downturn, the Masisi administration has used national reserves to finance the budget and limit spending cuts, reducing the risk of alienating voters.

“Everyone’s expectation is that the BJP will win the election,” although its lead may not be overwhelming, said Low Nel, an analyst at Oxford Economics.

“Opposition parties will point out that the odds are stacked against them and that the BJP-led government will never hesitate to use public resources to secure re-election. But a divided opposition will have to take some of the blame” because they have failed to capitalize on the government’s policy mistakes and have failed to articulate a compelling alternative vision for the country’s development, he said.

Masisi, 63, trained as a teacher and worked for the United Nations Children’s Fund before entering politics. He succeeded Ian Khama as president in 2019.

Masisi announced a new 10-year agreement his administration signed with De Beers last year that will give the country access to more diamonds and help it secure 10 billion pula ($746 million) in development funding. He also highlighted the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, which has led to the rapid rollout of vaccines, and highlighted development achievements by unveiling a series of infrastructure projects in recent weeks.

His main rivals are Duma Boko, leader of the Umbrella of Democratic Change Party, Dumelang Salezando, who heads the Botswana Congress Party, and Mephatho Reatile of the Botswana Patriotic Front, a party linked to Khama. In a televised debate last week, opposition leaders accused the ruling party of failing to diversify the economy away from its dependence on diamonds and mismanaging the country’s finances.

Boco and Salezando promised to raise the minimum wage and create jobs. These initiatives resonate in a country with an unemployment rate of 28%.

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 hit by oversupply, weak demand from the all-important Chinese market and pressure from lab-grown gems.