Cape Verde’s prime minister and Movement for Democracy (MpD) president Ulisses Correia e Silva accused the main opposition party of “conditioning the action of justice” and said the upcoming legislative elections put “the stability of the system” at stake.
Correia e Silva was speaking on Saturday as party leader at a dinner marking the MpD’s 36th anniversary in Praia, where he described some positions of the opposition African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV) as “very concerning” and comparable to those of “populist and extremist” movements.
With around two months to go until the May 17 elections, Correia e Silva said that “in a country like Cape Verde, no movement or leader can be allowed to put democracy at risk.”
Among the warning signs he said deserved “close attention,” he pointed to “attacks on the Attorney General’s Office and on the prosecutor regarding direct and concrete interests.” “One thing would be to question the model of justice or the way it operates in the abstract. But another thing is to question justice because of a case in which one is directly involved,” he said — a reference to statements by Francisco Carvalho, mayor of Praia, PAICV president and candidate for prime minister.
“Imagine if every citizen started acting this way — faced with legal proceedings, they hold a demonstration, attack the Attorney General. They are not defending a model of justice, but a specific case, clearly seeking to condition the action of justice, without any shame in attacking institutions,” he added.
Correia e Silva also commented on the PAICV leader’s calls for constitutional changes, saying that “altering the constitution à la carte, also because of a legal case, is another extremely worrying sign.”
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What is at stake in the May 17 elections, he said, “is not who will build more houses or roads — it is the stability of the system, the credibility and international integration of Cape Verde. If these factors break down, we are heading for the end of the line.” Without oil, diamonds or minerals, “what distinguishes Cape Verde is its stability, democracy, the strength of its institutions and its low level of corruption.”
In the same address, the MpD president alluded to global and regional threats to democracy, referencing “African countries that promote those who carry out coups and present them as great heroes. That cannot happen in Cape Verde.”
The Cape Verdean public prosecutor’s office carried out searches at Praia city hall on December 12 and ordered the seizure of land as part of ongoing investigations. Carvalho said at the time that the searches constituted a “use of institutional bodies for political motivations,” later calling for a constitutional amendment.
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Attorney General Luís Landim refuted accusations of politicisation in January, but the PAICV leader has repeatedly reaffirmed that he is being persecuted. “Justice is pursuing a Cape Verdean citizen, Francisco Carvalho, in an attempt to prevent him from standing as a candidate [for prime minister], which is a political right,” he said on March 5 on Cape Verdean television.
