Campaigning has opened for Cape Verde’s presidential election, with President Jose Maria Neves addressing hundreds of supporters at a rally in Sao Vicente.
Supporters chanted and held signs backing Neves during the event as he began his bid for a second term in the November 15 election. Official campaigning is scheduled to end on November 13.
Neves calls for economic reforms
Speaking at the rally, Neves said Cape Verde needed reforms to raise salary levels and improve household income.
“It is essential that we begin working to increase salary levels in Cape Verde. No country grows or competes on the basis of low wages. So, in order to improve wages and enhance household income, we must necessarily implement a set of important reforms in Cape Verde,” he said.
Neves is supported by the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde, known as PAICV, which won a majority in the country’s legislative elections in May.
Six candidates in the race
The National Elections Commission says six candidates are contesting the presidency. Former Justice Minister Joana Rosa is expected to be Neves’s main rival and is backed by the Movement for Democracy, or MpD.
Cape Verde, an Atlantic archipelago with an approximate population of 520,000, has been regarded as a model of democracy in Africa. The country was a Portuguese colony until 1975 and is described as having experienced relative calm since its first free elections in 1991, with no electoral violence reported in the source material.
The country has also experienced two five-year periods of political cohabitation involving different parties leading the government and presidency. Despite that political stability, Cape Verde faces social challenges including poverty and youth unemployment.
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