According to preliminary results released on an official website, former Cape Verdean Prime Minister Jose Maria Neves won the presidential election in the first round on Sunday in the archipelago, regarded as a model of democratic accomplishment in West Africa.
Mr. Neves, 61, a member of the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV) and former prime minister from 2001 to 2016, received 51.5 percent of the votes, exceeding the required absolute majority in the first round, according to data from 97 percent of polling stations.
He is leagues ahead of Carlos Veiga of the Movement for Democracy’s (MpD, center-right, majority in parliament). According to the same figures, Mr. Veiga, 71, another former Prime Minister from 1991 to 2000, received 42.6 percent of the vote.
The voter apathy population is 51.7 percent of registered voters.
Mr. Veiga conceded defeat and applauded his opponent on live television.
However, the electoral commission has not yet verified these results.
The president’s authority is restricted. Cape Verde operates under a semi-parliamentary system that places a high premium on the Prime Minister, the government, and the legislature.
Mr. Neves’ long tenure as Prime Minister saw the development of ties with China, the signature of a treaty with the European Union, and the emergence of a female-dominated administration in 2008.
A total of 398,864 Cape Verdeans, including more than 56,000 oversea, were required to elect a candidate from a record seven candidates, all men, to lead this volcanic archipelago in the Atlantic off Senegal.
The objective was to elect the fifth independent Cape Verdean head of state, succeeding Jorge Carlos Fonseca of the MpD. Elected in 2011 and re-elected in 2016, he was unable to seek re-election a third time.
The PAICV and the MpD have shared power and practiced a peaceful rotation of power since 1990, 15 years after independence from Portugal, when a multi-party system was introduced.
Mr Neves takes charge of a nation of 550,000 people with one of West Africa’s highest GDP per capita and years of steady development.
However, the economy, which is 25 percent reliant on tourism, mostly from Europe, as well as remittances from the huge diaspora and development assistance, has been severely impacted by Covid-19. The pandemic has exacerbated the consequences of a drought that has become worse over the last several years.
Carlos Veiga also lost in 2001 and 2006 against Pedro Pires, a candidate supported by the PAICV.
