Botswana's ruling party has won majority seats in the country's parliament, putting President Ian Khama at the helm for a second five-year term.

High Court Chief Justice Maruping Dibotelo said in a statement on Sunday that Khama "has been re-elected as the President of the Republic after his political party, the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) garnered at least 29 of the 57 parliamentary seats" at Friday's general election. Some reports have indicated that BDP may win upto 33 seats.

But the opposition coaltion managed to reduce the majority of Khama's party, which has ruled the diamond-producing nation since independence from Britain 48 years ago.

Parliament elects the president, and it is expected that Khama will win a second term, but with a reduced majority. In the previous elections in 2009, BDP won 45 seats.

Observer missions from the regional Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Commonwealth and the European Union were expected to report officially on the vote later.

South Africa's High Commissioner to Gaborone, Mdu Lembede, one of the observers, told a local news agency that the polls were "peaceful".

The landlocked, diamond-rich southern African country of two million people is seen as one of the continent's strongest democracies, and Friday's vote saw a high turnout of the 800,000 registered voters.

(with inputs from Al Jazeera)