The Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), which has ruled the country since independence from Britain in 1966, has suffered a historic defeat in parliamentary elections, according to preliminary results released on Friday.

Preliminary results showed that the three opposition parties combined to win 31 of the 61 seats in parliament, taking control after six decades of rule by the ruling party.

According to the counting centres, the Umbrella for Democratic Change, led by human rights lawyer Duma Poku, won 19 seats, followed by the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) with 7 seats and the Botswana National Front (BNF) with 5 seats. President Mokgweetsi Masisi’s Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) won only one seat.