The African Party for the Independence of Cabo Verde (known by the Portuguese initials PAICV) has secured an absolute majority in legislative elections held over the weekend. 

The polls were the closest contest in the nation’s history, with the absolute majority only being confirmed after the final count was released from the Americas electoral constituency.

The PAICV is led by Francisco Carvalho, 55, who has served as mayor of the capital, Praia, since 2020, will now become the next prime minister. 

The party secured approximately 46.6 percent of the total vote, defeating the Movement for Democracy (MpD), which had governed Cabo Verde since 2016 and obtained around 43.7 percent of the vote.

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The result means that the PAICV will now hold 38 seats in the 72-seat National Assembly, with MpD securing 33 seats and the Democratic and Independent Cabo Verdean Union (UCID) taking two. Compared with the 2021 elections, the PAICV gained eight additional seats, while MpD lost four and UCID lost two.

The elections were notable for the highest-ever recorded voter abstention rate in the country, which reached 53.4 percent – around 10 percentage points higher than that recorded in 2021.

Following the announcement of the results, current Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva stated that he “accepts the results naturally, as they reflect a democratic process,” and announced his resignation as party leader to “open the way for new leadership.”

In his victory speech, Carvalho thanked Cabo Verdeans for granting PAICV an absolute majority and pledged to deliver “a new Cabo Verde.”