Cape Verde opposition wins parliamentary elections

Cape Verde is set for a major political transition. The country’s main opposition party, the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde, or PAICV, has won Sunday’s parliamentary elections with 46 percent of the vote, according to provisional results from nearly 98 percent of polling stations.

Its leader, Francisco Carvalho, who is also the mayor of the capital Praia, is poised to become the country’s new Prime Minister. He will replace Ulisses Correia e Silva, who has led the government for the past ten years.

PAICV has so far secured 33 of the 72 seats in the National Assembly and could still reach an outright majority once the remaining seats, including those from the diaspora, are counted.

Outgoing Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva has conceded defeat and congratulated his successor.

With a population of about 550,000, Cape Verde is widely regarded as one of Africa’s strongest democracies. The country’s electoral calendar will conclude in November with a presidential election.