Wednesday’s vote took place orderly in a country proud of its democratic system installed when it gained independence from Britain in 1966, making it the region’s oldest democracy, although it has always was governed by the same party.

The ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) is confident the results, expected Thursday evening, will extend its 58 years in power, although commentators have said weakened support could lead to the country’s first hung parliament.

Counting for the municipal vote began immediately with polling stations closing on Wednesday evening while parliamentary ballot boxes were transported to separate centers.

With 61 parliamentary seats up for grabs, Botswana’s first-past-the-post system means the first party to secure 31 seats will be declared the winner and install its presidential candidate.

Masisi, one of four presidential candidates, said after voting Wednesday that he was confident that “victory is certain.”

But many voters said it was time for change, amid allegations of corruption, nepotism and government mismanagement.

Most of Botswana’s financial assets are held by 10% of the wealthy population and the gap between rich and poor is one of the widest in the world, according to the World Bank.

Unemployment reached 27 percent as the economy suffered from a collapse in the diamond market, its main source of income.

“The first priority of the next government or president would be to stabilize the economy and create some degree of strategic certainty in the mining sector,” said political commentator Olopeng Rabasimane.

“The second must be job creation, especially for young people. The third would be the diversification of the economy to make it less dependent on diamonds,” he said.

Masisi acknowledged concerns about a decline in Botswana’s foreign exchange reserves and weakening international diamond sales, saying the government would increase local investment as a countermeasure.

“We intend to solve this problem by putting money in the pockets of citizens and building infrastructure,” he told reporters.

But the country needs more than construction, Rabasimane said. “You can’t build roads where there’s no money to maintain them.”

In 2023, growth fell to 2.7 percent from 5.5 percent in 2022, according to the IMF. It is projected at 1% in 2024.

– A weakened opposition –

Masisi was elected in 2019 with around 52 percent of the vote.

The party is not expected to score many more victories this time and the opposition has been weakened by divisions.

Before the elections, two key parties left the left-wing Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), whose leader Douma Boko, 54, is also in the running.

The populist Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) and the social-democratic Botswana Congress Party (BCP) are fielding their own candidates, Mephato Reatile, 57, and Dumelang Saleshando, 53, respectively.

The independent Mmegi newspaper said this week that the “historic momentum and lame opposition” suggest a BDP victory seems obvious.

The UDC claimed responsibility for several irregularities around election day. “Our fear is that we will have another rigged election like in 2019,” said the head of the UDC monitoring group, Mike Keakopa.

The party will decide later whether it wants to take these complaints to court or choose another course of action, he said. His attempt to have the 2019 election results overturned due to alleged irregularities was rejected.