Johannesburg/Gaborone - Voting was underway Friday in general elections in Botswana, the world's largest producer of diamonds by value, where the opposition is hoping to dent the ruling Botswana Democratic Party's (BDP) 43-year hold on power. Most polling stations across the vast, southern African desert nation opened on time, at 6 a.m. (0400 GMT), according to Dumelang Saleshando, MP for the opposition Botswana Congress Party in the capital.
At one polling station he visited in his central Gaborone constituency 200 people were waiting in the hot sun to vote, some for over two hours, he said. So far the elections were going "smoothly," he said.
A little over 700,000 people out of some 1.8 million in country which is about the size of Texas are eligible to vote for 57 members of the National Assembly. Around 2,000 Batswana living overseas already voted on October 3.
The results are expected over the weekend.
The BDP of President Ian Khama, which has governed the country since independence from Britain in 1966, is expected to easily win re-election.
The party went into the election with 45 seats in parliament, against 11 for the Botswana National Front (BNF), the biggest opposition party, and one for the BCP.
The BDP owes its popularity to its judicious use of the country's diamond wealth, which has been used to transform what was one of the world's poorest countries at independence into a middle-income nation, with free healthcare and free education to third level for most.
The international recession underscored Botswana's dependence on the gems. Sharply reduced demand for diamonds in Western markets over the past year has plunged Botswana into recession.
The economy shrank 20 per cent in the first quarter of 2009 and is expected to contract by around 11 per cent for the year as a whole.
If his party wins a majority of 29 seats, Khama, 56, will be automatically returned as president for another five years.
Former vice president Khama, 56, son of late founding president Sir Seretse Khama, became president after ex-president Festus Mogae retired in March last year.
