PAICV protests against «against intolerance and verbal violence» and attacks PR

The PAICV warned today, in a conference, that in recent times and with increasing frequency, it has witnessed " signs of some intolerance and a lot of verbal violence " coming from different quarters of power, namely from some members of the government, but above all from some deputies, such as Filipe Santos who, « in an extremely inappropriate and disrespectful speech », recently attacked the President of the Republic. In addition, according to the deputy of the nation and member of the National Council Luís Pires, they are " accusing the PAICV of being unpatriotic, of wanting the worst, always the worst for the country and directly attacking the leaders of the PAICV ". He warned that all of this "are perverse signs, not reconcilable with democratic coexistence and with the creation of conditions for dialogue and understanding around the main issues that affect the country ".

For the PAICV, the quality of democracy is also measured by the level of respect and courtesy with which we relate to our opponents.

“ The PAICV will continue to carry out its function of supervising government action with all responsibility and will not be intimidated by these attacks, which is why it urges the MPD to reverse course ”, warned Luís Pires.

As he pointed out, it is above all necessary to be more tolerant with regard to the positions of others, internalizing respect for difference which, after all, was one of the basic elements of democratic culture.

“ Mr. Deputy Filipe Santos, rising in tone, in an extremely inappropriate speech, even disrespectful, directed against Mr. President of the Republic, exceeded all limits. Such a posture is not good for this country of mild customs and is a bad message for Cape Verde's image , "he warned.

Pires pointed out that the worst of all this «is that there was no sign from the fan leadership in the sense of demarcating themselves from this grotesque position», which may indicate that the entire party suffocates this inelegant way of treating the highest Magistrate of the Nation.

“ From the Deputies of the Nation, we expect a pedagogical, more elegant, more elevated speech, a speech that dignifies the role and gives prestige to the National Assembly. A Deputy, in whatever capacity he may be, must respect all Bodies of Sovereignty, must treat all persons and institutions in a polite and correct manner ”, he stressed.

For Luís Pires, these are speeches of the type that have been making school with impunity that, in a way, have been encouraging unusual attacks against the figure of the President of the Republic, lately even by public administration leaders, linked to the party in power and , more recently, by some regional officials of the ruling party.

« The climate of insecurity and hatred hitherto unimaginable in Cape Verde may be being fueled, in large part, by speeches with inflamed content, inadvertently uttered by certain political actors. It is good to remember that we live in a society in which adolescents and young people need positive references to adopt as inspiring models of action” , he highlighted.

According to this parliamentarian, it is difficult to condemn the violence practiced by a certain fringe of our society when «the parliamentarians themselves use speeches that are so inflamed, so shallow, so rude, so grotesque».

“ It is difficult to ask adolescents and young people for greater moderation in their language and less verbal and physical violence if the main political actors do not adopt better postures ”, added this deputy.

The lecturer stated that this obstinate saga against the figure of the President of the Republic cannot be understood. “ We have had in the recent past several examples of cohabitation between different sensibilities in the Bodies of Sovereignty, which could well be references for a necessary change of posture ”.

As he pointed out, the PAICV during all these years has always treated the President of the Republic with elevation, dignity and respect and has never encouraged its leaders to attack this important Organ of Sovereignty.

“It's bad that we replant democracy in Republic Week so that, in the following week, we dig up the roots, wanting to topple what we are building together, with so much effort and with renewed hopes ”, he emphasized.

Luís Pires understands that the President of the Republic, in São Filipe, did what he does and has done in all the Municipalities where he has been, that is, praising what is well done and encouraging what needs to be improved, always in a positive perspective and constructive.

“ It talks about the social dynamics, the development perspectives and the challenges of the Municipalities, the islands and our diaspora. He talks about the cooperation that must exist between the instances of power and the necessary participation of civil society. All aimed at finding the best solutions. In what we saw and heard there was nothing wrong with the posture of Mr. President of the Republic ”, he said.

Moreover, he highlighted, the Chambers governed by the PAICV have a tradition of doing a lot, with few means, managing public resources with rigor and transparency, with accountability being their brand image.

“ Old and new projects improve and bear fruit or deteriorate and die, depending on who is in charge. In São Filipe, the projects are improving, they are bearing fruit. This is the only way to understand the reason for so many stones. If it depended on the will of the MPD leaders, São Filipe and the entire island of Fogo would have remained frozen in time since 2016 ”.

Incidentally, he pointed out that the intervention of this Government on the island is still too small for the great ambitions of Foguenses. « All the campaign promises are still on paper, but all this is beads from another rosary », he noted.

Luís Pires was keen to stress that « for the PAICV there is always room for us to do politics in a different way with a deep and genuine respect for our opponents and their ideas ».

“In the first place, we must internalize that Deputies must always place the issues of the development of the country and our islands above all other individual interests, political parties or groups ”, concluded the lecturer from the largest opposition party.