Botswana's ruling party on Friday nominated President Mokgweetsi Masisi as its candidate for general elections this year after his rival quit the race at the 11th hour.
Botswana's President Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi is squaring off against ex-foreign minister, Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi to be the ruling party's candidate for presidential elections in October . AFP/File/TIMOTHY A. CLARY
But the former foreign minister, Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi, withdrew her candidature a few hours before a vote by party members, denouncing the process as a “sham”. Masisi commended Venson-Moitoi’s “gallant and spirited campaign” and urged party members “to embrace the democratic practice of competition”.About a thousand delegates attended a two-day meeting in the small, rural Kalahari Desert town of Kang, 400 kilometres northwest of the capital Gaborone.There had been concerns that Venson-Moitoi’s unprecedented challenge against a sitting president would upset the stability of the party and even lead to a split.
The 57-year-old BDP has ruled Botswana uninterrupted since independence in 1966, presiding over diamond-driven prosperity that stands out on a continent where poverty and turbulence are rife.
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