Flávio Vieira is the new president of ANMCV's General Management Board

Flávio Vieira ran against his party colleague Isaías Varela, mayor of São Domingos, who had been chosen by the National Council of the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV), in the absence of an agreement for a single list.

In his first statement to the press, as president of the ANMCV, he expressed his "total willingness", in conjunction with all the country's mayors, to shape an agenda that would in fact result in "effective gains for local power and the strengthening and deepening of decentralization".

The mayor of Mosteirense also defended a framework that promotes the social and economic development of Cape Verdean municipalities.

The mayor also revealed that his strategy motion is based on "three main pillars", which he considers "fundamental" for strengthening local power in Cape Verde, namely international cooperation, which, he said, involves an agenda for mobilizing partnerships and resources to finance the development of municipalities.

"The second pillar has to do with strengthening institutional cooperation," said the new leader of the ANMCV, adding that a new agenda needs to be worked on to strengthen "internal cohesion at local authority level and the creation of a framework for sharing experiences and knowledge and know-how on issues linked to governance and local development".

In his view, the third pillar has to do with the affirmation of local power in the future, which involves the building of a local authority training school, which will pay special attention to the qualification of local authority staff".

During his mandate, he recommends that the ANMCV has its own building, as well as establishing a "strong and strategic partnership" with higher education institutions in Cape Verde, with a view to "continuous training" of local authority staff.

Asked about a possible alliance with MpD mayors for his election, Flávio Vieira said that he has often said that the ANMCV "is not a political party representation board".

"The ANMCV is an institution that represents the municipalities and whose mission is to defend their interests and the Congress, as the highest body for electing bodies, has the legitimacy to do so," said Flávio Vieira, clarifying that as a candidate he had contacts with all the mayors, "regardless of their [political] colors."

"The ANMCV is an institution that represents the municipalities and whose mission is to defend their interests and the Congress, as the highest body for electing bodies, has the legitimacy to do so," he said.

According to him, it must be understood that the ANMCV "is not a space, much less an arena for party-political combat, but an institution created and dedicated to defending the interests of municipalities".

"We are going to engage in fruitful dialogue with the government of the Republic, in order to build the bridges and political consensus needed to approve the instruments that are fundamental to the leap we are aiming to make in terms of local government in Cape Verde", stressed Fábio Vieira.

"We are going to engage in fruitful dialogue with the government of the Republic, in order to build the bridges and political consensus needed to approve the instruments that are fundamental to the leap we are aiming to make in terms of local government in Cape Verde".

When asked if his election could influence the race for the leadership of the PAICV, since he was supported by Nuias Silva, the party's candidate for leader Tambarina, he replied in these terms: "I don't think so. We are talking about an external party body with its own legitimacy, so there will be no interference. The important thing is that the PAICV now leads the Governing Council of this association and the most important thing is to unite around a common agenda that promotes a developmental framework."

For her part, the new president of the Board of Directors, Leida Santos, stressed the importance of local government in the country, recognizing that it has been "decisive for the economic development of local communities and for improving the lives of their populations".

The losing candidate, Isaias Varela, in a statement to journalists, expressed his willingness to collaborate with the elected board for the good of the ANMCV, congratulating his party colleague.

"Democracy has worked and we would like to take this opportunity to thank all the people who voted for us and also those who didn't, because they have shown that democracy has indeed worked," said Isaias Varela, who had already guaranteed that he will not be running for the PAICV mayors' association.

He acknowledged that his defeat was due to a "junction between some PAICV and MpD elected representatives".

Inforpress/End