According to provisional results published on an official website, The former Cape Verdean Prime Minister Jose Maria Neves, won the Cape Verde presidential election in the first round on Sunday in this archipelago cited as an example of democratic success in West Africa.
Neves won 51.5 per cent of the vote according to results based on 97 per cent of votes counted. A first-round absolute majority means the election does not need to go to a second-round run-off.
Jose Maria Neves who served as prime minister of the tiny West African nation between 2001 and 2006, ran for the opposition African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV). The PAICV ruled the former Portuguese colony when it was a one-party state.
His main rival, another former prime minister, was 71-year-old lawyer Carlos Veiga, who won 42.6 per cent of the votes counted.
Carlos Veiga was the candidate of the centre-right Movement for Democracy (MpD), which has a majority in parliament. Veiga acknowledged defeat on television, congratulating his rival.
These results have yet to be validated by the electoral commission with the turnout for the election at 48.3 per cent.
Sunday’s election comes six months after the MpD won parliamentary elections, beating the PAICV into second place.
The president’s scope of action is limited. Cape Verde has a semi-parliamentary system with a strong emphasis on the Prime Minister, the government and the parliament.