State of the Nation reflects a worrying reality marked by social and institutional degradation – PAICV

The leader of the parliamentary group of the African Independence Party of Cape Verde (PAICV), João Baptista Pereira, said that the country's current situation highlights the incapacity of an exhausted Government which, despite a high dose of propaganda and political marketing, fairs and forums, appears to be far from honoring the commitments it made to Cape Verdeans.

This Government, he continued, did not reach the target of minimum real average growth of 7% per year, did not fulfill the promise of reducing unemployment to single digits and youth unemployment to around 50% in five years, through the creation of a minimum 45,000 new decent and well-paid jobs.

“Contrary, between 2016 and 2023, 19,264 jobs were destroyed and in the primary sector alone, more than 25,838 jobs were lost, leaving many families in situations of food insecurity. Agriculture, vital to our subsistence, was simply forgotten”, he lamented.

João Baptista Pereira pointed out that the Government did not honor its commitment to update salaries and pensions annually, highlighting that the purchasing power of Cape Verdeans continues to deteriorate and more and more families are facing financial difficulties in meeting their household's expenses. familiar.

“The Government was unable to build an integrated, competitive and safe transport system, which is essential for the unification of the national market and the reduction of economic asymmetries between the islands. A modern and safe fleet and regular inter-island lines were promised, but this remains a mirage”, he pointed out.

For PAICV, this failure of the Government constitutes a strong constraint to the desired unification of the national market, a vital dimension for reducing economic asymmetries between the islands and for a more balanced and fair development for all Cape Verdeans.

The Government, he added, also failed to achieve the goal of placing Cape Verde on the list of the 10 best-ranked island countries in terms of the Human Development Index and that Cape Verde dropped from position 122, which it occupied in 2015, to position 131 in 2023.

“Unfortunately, difficulties persist in the full performance of public security forces, with operational insufficiencies, work overload, outstanding salaries, discrimination, persecution and other problems that are the basis of demotivation and abandonment, particularly within the National Police”, he stated. .

In education, the deputy indicated, the curricular reform and the new evaluation system designed by the Government have had serious consequences for the education system, criticizing the executive's incapacity and unavailability for dialogue with the unions representing the teaching class, predicting more a busy academic year, with all the consequences for the educational community.

In Health, he said, confidence fell from 69% in 2016 to 53.5% in 2023 and the insufficiency of human resources, lack of technical means of diagnosis, the permanent shortage of basic medicines and the increase in waiting lists highlight the incapacity of this Government in improving the response capacity of the national health system.

“Public debt has increased at an alarming rate, reaching more than 315 billion contos in 2024. This Government practically doubled the debt stock in just eight years, without implementing the promised infrastructure”, he criticized.

The PAICV deputy stated, on the other hand, that the Government has development plans and programs, but it lacks the capacity to set an acceptable pace in their implementation, monitoring and evaluation, due to the failure to fulfill the promise to establish access to positions in the State, through a competition, conducted by an independent recruitment agency, guaranteeing equal opportunities in access for all.

Because of this, the Public Administration was placed at the service of the MpD, with enormous losses for citizens, companies and the State, as a result of the calamitous situation of the public business sector, made up of thirty-three companies and institutes, all run by managers public hand-picked by the Government.

Inforpress/End