PAICV direct elections take place this Sunday for the succession of Rui Semedo

Francisco Carvalho, mayor of Praia, Francisco Pereira, national deputy for the constituency of Europe, Jorge Spencer Lima, businessman, and Nuias Silva, mayor of São Filipe (Fogo) are the aspirants for the leadership of the African Cape Verde Independence Party (PAICV).

The still-president Rui Semedo will not run again to succeed himself, a decision he announced shortly after the PAICV's first ever victory in the local elections, the last in which the party won 15 of the 22 municipal councils.

All in all, according to the PAICV secretary-general, Julião Varela, 36,131 militants are registered, of which 31,159 at national level and 4,954 in the diaspora.

There are a total of 274 polling stations, with Santiago Sul, with 12,268 delegates, being the sector with the largest number of polling stations, followed by Santiago Norte with 6,743 registered, Fogo with 3,064 and São Vicente with 2,756 delegates.

There are a total of 274 polling stations.

The party structures in the diaspora, between Portugal, Africa and the United States, each have at least one representative.

To be elected, the candidate for president of what is the largest opposition party and one of the two political parties in the arc of power, together with the Movement for Democracy (MpD), will have to have a majority of the votes, that is, more than 50%.

Julião Varela leaves open the possibility of a second round, the date of which has already been set for June 1st.

The delegates to the Congress will already be counted by the "hondt" method, i.e. according to the number of votes for each candidacy, which is why they can already be counted in today's election.

Inforpress/End