( 3 minutes read)
· Cape Verdeans have re-elected Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva. The wish list given by the voters seem to be: turnaround the archipelago’s economy, heavily impacted by the coronavirus pandemic
· Most of the results were announced last night itself and few seats remaining, which are likely to go in the way of the ruling party
· The Movement for Democracy (MpD), the party he heads, won 36 of the 72 seats in the National Assembly
Cape Verdeans have re-elected Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva. The wish list given by the voters seems to be: turnaround the archipelago’s economy, heavily impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Most of the results were announced last night itself and few seats remaining, which are likely to go in the way of the ruling party.
The 58-year-old head of government who came into power in 2016 is a former senior executive of the Bank of Cape Verde, ex-minister and ex-mayor of the capital Praia. He celebrated his victory with his supporters. He said it was a victory for the correctness of the government’s line of action during a very difficult period. The Movement for Democracy (MpD), the party he heads, won 36 of the 72 seats in the National Assembly. The results were announced by the national electoral commission, which covered almost 98.2 percent of the polling stations.
The party is expected to bag 37 deputies as against 40 it had in the previous government. With 37 seats, the government is sure of having an absolute majority. The results of the last three Diaspora seats are still to be counted. The center-right formation of Janira Hopffer Almada’s PAICV (socialist), has only 29 seats, maintaining its tally same as that in the previous election in 2016. If she had won, it could have been a historic win for the country and could have, for the first time, a woman president being elected. Far behind the two major parties, the Cape Verdean Independent and Democratic Union (Ucid, Christian Democrat) won 4 seats each. Cape Verde has a semi- arliamentary system. The Prime Minister dominates the executive, with the President (Jorge Carlos Fonseca, MpD) acting as an arbitrator.
