Traditional parties face upset by newcomers in Cape Verde

As the April 18 legislative elections in Cape Verde approach, activists from the two main parties, the Movement for Democracy (MpD), led by Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva, and the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde, led by Janira Hopffer Almada, are campaigning despite restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Nearly 600 candidates from six political parties are rallzing voters ahead the seventh legislative elections scheduled for April 18. 

393,166 people from the archipelago and the diaspora are eligible to vote. 

Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva is seeking re'election.

According to the calendar set by the National Elections Commission (CNE), the electoral campaign will continue until midnight on April 16.

Since the official start of the election campaign, some of the political parties in the running have been trying in vain to obtain an agreement to ban rallies, citing the Covid-19 pandemic, without success. 

The CNE officially banned rallies, but did not react to events held by the ruling party and PAICV candidates.

Janira Hopffer Almada is the candidate of the opposition party, the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde, and she took to the streets to invite her supporters to go to the polls.

The parties are competing for control of the 72-seat national assembly. 

Alongside the traditional parties, new comers such as the Popular (PP), Labour and Solidarity (PTS) and Social Democratic (PSD) are running in some constituencies for the first time to challenge the dominance of the old outfits.