Brava: Francisco Carvalho guarantees that he is an "active militant" of the PAICV and is working to dispel this doubt

Francisco Carvalho, who was speaking to Inforpress after a meeting with activists on the island, explained that this doubt is "a cause for great concern", since "false polls, slanderous news and personal attacks" are being launched to defame his candidacy.

"This situation is of great concern to me, because this is similar to what the radical wing of the Movement for Democracy (MpD) did to me at Praia City Hall, and at the moment we have a set of fake polls, unsubstantiated accusations and personal attacks within our party. My main concern is who has an interest in this, in not allowing what we did in Praia to spread to the whole of Cape Verde?" he asked.

Carvalho recalls that on the day a meeting was held between the candidates and the president of the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV) presented a proposal to hold a poll that would serve to choose a single representative of the party and so all the others supported it.

The Praia mayor also explained that he defended this methodology because he believes that an internal dispute causes negative effects that could later cause hurt feelings, since this will be inevitable.

"I'm not going to offend anyone as a candidate, but among militants there will always be discussions that can go further and leave hurt feelings. But of course I still have a lot of hope that before election day we'll be able to reach a consensus in this dispute," he said.

Francisco Carvalho assured that he is aware of the proposals he has been presenting to Cape Verdeans and of the "degree of penetration" they have, because, he said, "people have confidence and hope" in Francisco Carvalho.

Therefore, he continued, the people see this election as proof that, at a national level, the militants really want him to be the leader of the country and president of the PAICV.

"I've already contacted the candidates and asked them to unite, in other words, I'm not waiting to see what will happen on the 30th of this month to then enter into a consensus with the others, because I've already done that and I'll do it again after the elections," he concluded.

The National Council of the African Independence Party of Cape Verde has scheduled direct elections for March 30 to elect the president of this political force to be voted on by 34,000 militants.

Inforpress/End