Yearbook 2011
Cape Verde. The ruling party PAICV (Cape Verde’s African Independence Party), the Socialist Former Liberation Movement, retained its absolute majority in the February parliamentary elections. PAICV, which took power back in 2001, received 51% of the vote and 37 of Parliament’s 72 seats. Liberal MPD (Movement for Democracy) got 33 seats and the small opposition party UCID (Cape Verde Democratic and Independent Union) retained its two seats. Visit ABBREVIATIONFINDER for the acronym of CPV that stands for the country of Cape Verde.
According to Countryaah official site, PAICV’s recent reign has been a ten-year success story. During this time, Cape Verde has had an average economic growth of 6% per year. Three international airports have been built and tourists are pouring in ever-increasing numbers, tens of miles of roads have been built on the nine inhabited islands, new ports have been built that stimulate trade. At the same time, Cape Verde has consolidated its position as one of Africa’s most stable democracies.
Nevertheless, MPD got revenge in the presidential election, when its candidate Jorge Carlos Fonseca, former Foreign Minister, defeated PAICV’s Manuel Inocêncio Sousa by just over 54% against just under 46 in the second round.
Another confirmation of Cape Verde’s good reputation was the message that former President Pedro Pires, who has just resigned after a maximum of ten years, was awarded this year’s Ibrahim Prize for good governance in Africa. The price motivation was that Pires helped make Cape Verde a “model for democracy, stability and increased prosperity”.
The Ibrahim Prize, instituted by a Sudanese telecommunications billionaire, is awarded to a democratically elected African leader who resigns voluntarily when the mandate expires. The winner receives half a million US dollars a year for ten years and then $ 200,000 a year for life.