Democracy and Elections in Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau

The First Multi-Party Elections in Cape Verde

Electoral Notes: (The abbreviation S. stands for São/Santo or Saint; the letters N.S. stand for Nossa Senhora or Our Lady.)

Cape Verdean-Americans and emigrants tended to support the PAICV. The Comissao Eleitoral Nacional (CEN) reported 15-20 percent abstentions, and 159,988 registered voters in the islands and 6,830 among the emigrants. The MpD opposition won 69 percent of votes, PAICV had 22 percent. Three seats in the National Assembly were reserved for emigrants, i.e., 2 for the PAICV from Africa and America, and one for the MpD from Europe.

In the direct popular vote for the separate Presidential elections in February 1991, the CEN announced 72 percent of the votes for António Mascarenhas Monteiro and 26.2 percent for Aristides Pereira. Of the 159,667 registered voters Monteiro got 70,582 and Pereira got 25,722. There were also 372 blank votes at 0.28 percent, and 1,363 nullified votes at 1.39 percent. Elections were calm and tranquil. Former Prime Minister Pedro Pires (q.v.) said that despite the outcome, the elections represented a victory for pluripartidarismo (multi-partyism). Pires did claim that Bishop D. Paulino Evora encouraged voters to turn toward the MpD; now Pires considers himself a member of the loyal opposition.

In the urban area of Praia the vote was 70 percent for Monteiro and in S. Catarina it was 89 percent. There was also strong support for Monteiro in São Vicente and Santo Antao. Monteiro was projected as the candidate for youth and for change. He had been briefly in the PAIGC but left for his studies in Belgium. He had been Judge-President of the Supreme Court of Justice for the last ten years. After the MpD electoral victory of 13 January 1991, a new government was formed on 17 February 1991.

The First Multi-Party Elections in Guinea-Bissau

Notes: Of the 400,000 registered voters, there was an 88.91 turnout. The full names of the parties are found in the list of abbreviations, with the exception of UM which is a coalition of six parties led by Bubacar Djaló, who is the President of Liga Guineense de Protecção Ecológia, LIPE (q.v.). The UM coalition consists of the Frente Democratica, the Frente Democratica Social, LIPE, the Movimento para a Unidade e Democracia, the Partido Democrático para Progresso, and the Partido para Renovação e Desenvolvimento.

Notes: See above notes for full party names. Carlos Gomes (PCD) was an independent candidate supported only by PCD whose leader, Victor Mandinga, was not eligible to run for President under the current election laws, which require that both parents of the candidate be Guineans born in the country. The overall turnout was 89.3% of the eligible voters.

The very surprising result of this part of the election was the much underestimated young candidate of the PRS, Rumba Yala. The demography of Guinea-Bissau shows that more that fifty-six percent of the population was born after independence in 1973. Bissau itself has a population heavily composed of youth. Election laws required a run-off election if the greatest percentage of votes cast for President did not exceed fifty percent. Thus, the incumbent President Vieira was required to face Kumba Yala in a second run-off election scheduled for 7 August 1994. 111.

Notes: These results have been much contested by the coalition built among supporters of Kumba Yala. They claim that they have won instead. Yala hardly campaigned in the Bolama area. Supporters of the PAIGC have been celebrating with great enthusiasm, including congratulations from the heads of State of Senegal, France, Cape Verde, and Portugal.

THE SECOND MULTIPARTY ELECTIONS IN CAPE VERDE

Note: the total seats were 79 in 1991 and 72 in 1995.

These results for São Tiago are consistent at the national level. The PAICV only managed to win in Fogo, the home island of the former Prime Minister Pedro Pires. It improved a bit in São Nicolau. Generally the PAICV did not recover from its first defeat and in the case of São Tiago they lost still more, probably to the PCD to some small extent. Everywhere else the MpD kept its former strength or gained a bit except for the small number of defectors to the PCD.

In January 1996 the second phase of the elections was held for the Presidents of the Camaras Municipais (City Mayors). Despite the landslide victory of the MpD in the Legislative Assembly this was not exactly the case for these elections. Here home-boy favorites seemed to play a greater role. Of the sixteen contested seats, eight went to MpD candidates, or only 50% of the positions. These are the Municipal Presidents of Praia, São Domingo, Santa Cruz, Tarrafal, and Santa Catarina, all in São Tiago island as well as Brava, São Nicolau and Porto Novo. The PAICV won in the two Camaras of São Filipe and Mosteiros in Fogo and in the seats in Boa Vista and Sal. The MPRSV led by maverick Mayor Onesimo Silveira won in São Vicente; MPASA, led by Manuel Ribeiro took Maio, and in Santo Antao the town of Paul went to Alcides Tavares and his GIDSP and Ribeira Grande went to Jorge Santos and the GDR. It is apparent that these smaller splinter parties took votes from the MpD, while, overall the PAICV kept the strength it showed in the national legislative elections.

The final round of Cape Verdean elections slated for 18 February 1996 is for the President. Within the Cape Verdean constitution this position is non-partisan and serves mainly as a moderating backup government to the Prime Minister. It appears that the current President Antonio Mascarenhas Monteiro will run unopposed as he is supported by both the PAICV and the MpD as a defender of democracy and human rights. The 1991 defeat of former President Aristides Pereira of the PAICV was a great shock that this party does not wish to repeat. They would probably have little chance in fielding a new candidate associated with their party.

Conclusions