PAICV WINS THE 2011 CAPE VERDE ISLANDS PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
The PAICV (Social Democratic Independence Party) achieved the absolute majority in the parliamentary elections on 6/2/2011 with 38 delegates. This was followed by the MPD (Movement for Democracy) with 32 delegates and the small UCID (the liberal party) with 2 delegates. This means that the PAICV has attained the majority in 10 of 13 electoral districts.
During the last 2 weeks before the election, an absolutely peaceful election campaign took place without any significant incidents.
The MPD expressed strong criticism of the PAICV in a rather aggressive manner. It had nothing good to say about the opposing party and had a campaign motto of Mesti muda (Change Is Necessary). On the other hand, PAICV made quite a serene impression. Instead of criticising the opposition, it focused on depicting itself in a very positive way with an election motto of Mais Cabo Verde (More Cabo Verde).
It was also interesting to note that Jose Maria Neves, the president of the PAICV, never spoke the name of the MPD opposition party or the opponent Carlos Veiga in one single debate or speech that he held. He always preferred to use formulations such as “with the others” or “the other.” He also fundamentally refused to evaluate or judge Carlos Veigas in interviews. On the other hand, Carlos Veiga and his MPD party virtually gushed with criticism against the PAICV and its president Jose Maria Neves. The name of the opponent was sometimes even heard more frequently from the MPD than its own name.
Above all, the MPD criticised the (alleged) following points: As a result of the wrong policies, there were still the unresolved problems of the power outages, the unopposed criminality in the cities of Praia and Mindelo, as well as the unchanged poverty, the unchanged unemployment rate and a multitude of false promises and lies by the PAICV that have sometimes degenerated into defamations that are now being discussed in court.
Above all, the PAICV concentrated on these (alleged) points: During the past 10 years of the government, there has been major progress in the infrastructure of the islands such as airports, streets, harbours, an expanded range of electricity, universities, hospitals, etc. It also emphasised the better standard of living for the Cape Verdeans such as higher wages, less unemployment, higher pensions, more companies, more tourism, a higher gross domestic product, the country’s good international reputation and addition large donations/investments such as the second MCA (Millennium Challenge Account).