Cape Verde Elections: PAICV and MpD Locked in Dead Heat
Cape Verde’s legislative elections have descended into a high-stakes waiting game as early results show the country’s two political giants locked in a dead heat. With nearly 94% of polling stations reporting as of Sunday night, the opposition and the ruling party are separated by just a single seat in parliament.
A Race Too Close to Call
As of 9:40 PM local time, the opposition African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV) holds a razor-thin lead with 29 deputies (46.2% of the vote). The incumbent Movement for Democracy (MpD) follows closely with 28 seats (44%). The Independent and Democratic Cape Verdean Union (UCID) has secured two seats so far.
With 13 of the 72 seats in the National Assembly still to be allocated, the final balance of power remains unpredictable. The results represent 1,252 polling stations, but a significant 52.9% abstention rate has emerged as a major storyline—a sharp increase from the 42% recorded during the 2021 pandemic-era elections.
The Battle for Leadership
The stakes for the next five years are high. Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva of the MpD is fighting for a third consecutive term to extend his party’s decade-long governance. Challenging him is Francisco Carvalho, the current mayor of the capital city, Praia, who leads the PAICV’s charge to reclaim the leadership it last held in 2011.
Cape Verdean politics has historically been a two-party seesaw. Since the nation held its first free elections, the MpD and PAICV have alternated in power, with both sides consistently securing absolute majorities. This year, however, the UCID is campaigning specifically to break that cycle of dominance and force a more collaborative parliamentary structure.
Technical Glitches and Voter Turnout
The tension of the evening was heightened by technical difficulties. The official election monitoring portal (eleicoes.cv) crashed during the night, leaving citizens reliant on national television for real-time updates as the tallying continued.
While the MpD and PAICV competed in all 13 electoral districts, including the diaspora, the UCID focused its efforts on 10 districts. Minor parties, such as the People’s Party (PP) and the People, Labor and Solidarity party (PTS), also competed but have yet to secure parliamentary representation. As the final votes from the remaining districts and the diaspora are counted, Cape Verde waits to see if it will maintain its tradition of absolute majorities or enter a new era of coalition politics.
Image: Pexels – damien Saillet
