PAICV mayors choose Isaías Varela to preside over the National Association of Municipalities of Cape Verde

As A Nação online found out, in the vote that took place last weekend, through an online platform, Isaías Varela obtained 16 votes and Carlos (Suek) Silva, 11 votes, out of a total of 27 voters.

Francisco Carvalho, Mayor of Praia and candidate for the leadership of the PAICV, has already publicly expressed his support for Isaías Varela, acknowledging, however, that the choice was not unanimous.

Regardless of the name chosen, this will be the first time in the history of local government in Cape Verde that the ANMCV will be led by a PAICV mayor since, until the last local elections on December 1st last year, the Movement for Democracy always won the majority of the country's 22 Municipal Councils.

It should be recalled that Isaías Varela, an economist by profession, was elected Mayor of São Domingos in 2020, having been re-elected for a second term in the last local elections on 1 December. The mayor of São Domingos is also President of the PAICV Association of Mayors.

Suek's candidacy challenges voting process

The candidacy of councilor Carlos (Suek) Silva for the leadership of ANMCV contests the voting process that led to the election of Isaías Varela and announced that it will challenge him, claiming that the established legal procedures were not respected.

“We will challenge these results because they do not reflect what the ANMCV statutes stipulate. The choice must be made by a minimum of 87 PAICV delegates,” announced Gilson Cardoso, President of the Municipal Assembly of Santa Cruz and representative of Carlos (Suek) Silva’s candidacy.

Gilson Cardoso also denounced the lack of quorum in the vote and the non-existence of an electoral commission to monitor the online voting procedure, whose platform, as he stressed, by itself, does not guarantee the reliability of the process.

The President of the Municipal Assembly of Santa Cruz considers that Carlos Silva is the “best qualified” candidate to lead ANMCV, arguing that Suek was vice-President in the previous term and therefore has experience and knowledge of the dossiers.

The new ANMCV bodies will be elected by the presidents of the Municipal Chambers and Assemblies of the country's 22 municipalities at the General Assembly scheduled for February 21st on the island of Sal.

The current president of ANMCV is Herménio Fernandes, mayor of São Miguel, elected by the list of the Movement for Democracy (MpD – party in power).