Francisco Carvalho declares himself winner of the directives and "president of all PAICV militants"
On Sunday evening, Francisco Carvalho presented himself as the winner of the first round of direct elections to the leadership of the PAICV, and said he felt "the president of all the party's militants".
At a ceremony held at his campaign headquarters in Praia, Francisco Carvalho, who was flanked by national MPs Jandira Hopffer Almada, Carla Lima and Carlos Tavares, said that confirmed figures show that in 94 percent (%) of the polling stations already counted, his candidacy has 62 percent favorable votes.
"Now we have to start working because it's already clear that this project has caught the attention of all Cape Verdeans. We made a commitment to transform the PAICV, to organize the party internally first and make sure that it is properly organized, so that the will of all the militants is possible," he stressed.
Always cheered by the supporters, friends and PAICV activists who were at the campaign headquarters, Francisco Carvalho promised to work for the engagement of all the activists who stood in this election and hoped that together they could "work on building this democratic process", claiming that everyone contributed to the size of the project.
The sociologist pledged to join forces with everyone, to show with synergy, love, affection, determination, work and daring that it is possible to do a lot for Cape Verde.
Assumed to be the great victor in this election, and Rui Semedo's successor as president of the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV), Francisco Carvalho even revealed that he has already received congratulations from some of the candidates with whom he has been in this race for the leadership of the largest opposition party.
In addition to Francisco Carvalho, the mayor of Praia, the deputy for the Europe constituency Francisco Pereira, businessman Jorge Spencer Lima and the mayor of São Filipe (Fogo), Nuias Silva, are also running in these elections.
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 in operation, 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.
The party structures at diaspora level, 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, along with the Movement for Democracy (MpD), will have to have a majority of the votes, that is, more than 50%.
Inforpress/End
