GABORONE, Botswana (AP) — Polling stations open an election in Botswana Wednesday and one country was poised to decide whether one of Africa’s longest-serving ruling parties would stay in power for another five-year term.

The Botswana Democratic Party has been in power in the southern African country for 58 years, since its independence from Britain in 1966. The one-day elections will decide the makeup of Parliament and lawmakers will later elect the president .

President Mokgweetsi Masisi, a former high school teacher and United Nations employee, is seeking a second and final term.

Botswana is considered one of Africa’s success stories as a peaceful and stable democracy with one of the best standards of living in the region, but it faces new economic challenges that have prompted the BDP to admit that a policy change is necessary.

This is largely due to the global slowdown diamond requeston which Botswana’s economy is based. Unemployment in this country of some 2.5 million people has reached 27% this year, and it is significantly higher for young people.

The BDP says it has listened to voters’ concerns and is open to policy changes that could diversify an economy where diamonds account for more than 80% of Botswana’s exports and a quarter of GDP, according to the World Bank.

Three men have registered to challenge Masisi for president: Duma Boko of the main opposition Umbrella for Democratic Change party, Dumelang Saleshando of the Botswana Congress Party and Mephato Reatile of the Botswana Patriotic Front.

Counting is expected to begin immediately after polls close Wednesday evening and results could be announced within days.

Although the BDP has dominated Botswana’s politics since independence, recent economic uncertainties have narrowed the gap between it and the opposition, analysts say.

Botswana is the second largest diamond producer behind Russia and is responsible for all of the largest rough gemstones discovered in the past decade. But sales of rough diamonds to Debswana, the company the Botswana government jointly owns with the De Beers group and which is a key source of state revenue, fell by almost 50% in the first half of 2024, according to authorities. This dented public finances and sparked criticism of Masisi and the BDP for failing to take steps to diversify the economy.

Government employees received their salaries late due to the strained financial situation, tarnishing Botswana’s reputation for government efficiency.

Before the elections, the BDP said it would now focus on processing mineral resources to generate new sources of income, while strengthening the agricultural sector. and tourism sectors.

Just over a million people have registered to vote, according to the Independent Electoral Commission. Botswana is larger than France but has a small population, with the Kalahari Desert covering large parts of the landlocked country that borders South Africa. Drought and desertification threaten Botswana’s development and the livelihoods of much of its population.

The election could also reignite Masisi’s feud with former President Ian Khama, the man he succeeded as Botswana’s leader and with whom he later fell out.

Khama, the son of Botswana’s founding president, left the BDP and went into exile in South Africa in 2021, accusing Masisi of taking an authoritarian approach to criticism. Khama was charged with illegal possession of a firearm and receiving stolen property in criminal case he said it was politically motivated to silence him.

Khama returned to Botswana in September to attend a court hearing and campaigned for the Botswana Patriotic Front to try to oust Masisi.

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