TIME TO CREEP THE WAY - Jose Maria Neves

1. We must have the humility to recognize that we, all of us, made serious mistakes in 2011, when we were divided over the presidential question. I, who was then leader of the Party, have more responsibilities and I fully assume them. Only those who do not act stop making mistakes.

As an institution, the Party left very fragile and with enormous emotional distress. An intense dialogue between us was necessary, with humility and a sense of responsibility - we owe respect to those who, before us, founded and built the PAICV. We organized a National Conference and in 2013 the Reconciliation Congress. The wounds of a family war take time to heal.

2. Intra-party struggles are, and should be, natural in democratic parties. These are decision-making and leadership-choice processes inherent to the democracy that characterize modern moderate left- or right-wing parties.

In Cape Verde, disputes within the parties, all of them, have become sources of conflict and internal divisions. The reasons will be related to emotional immaturity and lack of contextual intelligence. Everyone wants to be absolutely right and in the search for more and more and more and more reason ends up drowning in their own drifts and contradictions.

Membership in parties is voluntary. All equally love the party they have freely joined, and no one is more militant than the other.

It is always dangerous when someone sets himself up as the holder of the moral conscience of the party to which he belongs and assumes himself as the chief inquisitor and the only one with the capacity to impose good on others.

Disputes only reveal vitality if they are based on clear rules of the game accepted by all and on ideas and alternative proposals for party governance.

Everyone loses when a dispute slides into personal and character-destroying attacks.

Every attack on a current or former member or leader is a blow to the very heart of the party, which is supposed to defend itself.

Whoever is a member and defends the principles and values of the PAICV does not attack his companions, under the illusion that he is a “saint” and the other is the devil, he is the axis of good and the other the axis of evil. “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone”, said Jesus Christ over 2000 years ago!

The policy of terror and enmity never produced good results.

3. I therefore ask my comrades to stop personal attacks, because regardless of which side of the barricade we are on, we are destroying the Party when we deal fatal blows to those who think differently from us and who we make enemies of shoot down.

We can disagree and dispute around ideas, with the clear awareness that democracy can also be compromises.

At this moment, we should be discussing the PAICV's Municipal Agenda and the 2030 Programme, with intelligent, innovative, daring and adaptive proposals, to mobilize society and citizens around new ideas for the future.

We are surprised because we lost the elections, despite the weaknesses of our opponents. A disunited party, where no one escapes the friendly attacks of one another, gains nothing.

We need mutual respect and self-control. We are all few for the greatness of the work that awaits us.

Let us rescue the spirit of friendship and companionship that should guide relations between members of the same party.

The PAICV is more than each and every one of us put together.

José Maria Neves