R 171644Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY PRAIA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 1655
INFO ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
AMEMBASSY LISBON 
AMEMBASSY MADRID 
CIA WASHDC
AMEMBASSY PRAIA

UNCLAS PRAIA 000023 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KJUS PGOV CV
SUBJECT: INFIGHTING DISPLEASES PARTY LEADERSHIP 
 
REF: PRAIA 012 
 
¶1. (U) Summary.  Internal party disagreements are affecting all 
three Cape Verdean political parties.  The African Party for the 
Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV) is divided over who will be 
presidential candidate in the 2011 elections, while factions are 
fighting over the party presidencies of both the Movement for 
Democracy (MpD) and the smaller Cape Verdean Democratic and 
Independent Union (UCID).  Although the national presidential 
elections are still two years away, party leaders feel that the 
sooner these internal issues are resolved, the better their 
parties are likely to fare with voters.   End Summary 
 
PAICV PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE YET TO BE CHOSEN 
 
¶2. (SBU) On February 10, 2009, a group of about 200 PAICV 
supporters met in Praia to back current Parliamentary President, 
Aristides Lima, as PAICV candidate for President of the 
Republic. The movement is reportedly being spearheaded by fellow 
PAICV personality Felisberto Vieira Neves, the former mayor of 
Praia and increasingly a rival of Prime Minister Jose Maria 
Neves for leadership of the party.  The meeting consisted of 
lunch followed by stump speeches by party representatives and 
high-profile PAICV supporters.  Among the participants in the 
meeting were members of Parliament, the President of the Central 
Bank, the President of the Food Regulatory Agency, and the 
daughter of current President of the Republic Pedro Pires.  The 
meeting was closed to press and outsiders, but word quickly 
leaked, and it seemed clear to many observers that Prime 
Minister Neves had been completely unaware that the event was 
taking place. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Note: The PAICV contains two distinct wings.  One, 
largely rural, southern, and more populist is led by revered 
statesman and national hero Pedro Pires.  Vieira is a Pires 
protege and was the heir apparent to the PAICV party leadership 
until his stunning upset loss in the 2008 Praia mayoral race. 
The other wing of the party is more technocratic, backed by the 
business and political elite of the northern island of Sao 
Vicente.  Neves, with no clear power base of his own, 
successfully courted this group in his election to the party 
presidency and Prime Ministry in 2001 and 2006.  End Note. 
 
¶4. (SBU) While a PAICV candidate for the President of the 
Republic has not been officially chosen or even agreed upon 
internally, Neves has clearly been favoring another 
parliamentarian, David Hopffer Almada (an independent candidate 
for president in 2001, now a member of PAICV).  According to a 
PAICV parliamentarian, Neves was greatly displeased with what he 
sees as Vieira's attempt to blindside him, circumvent his 
authority as party president, weaken Almada, and ultimately 
force Neves into backing Lima. 
 
¶5. (U) Instead of outwardly chastising other members of his 
party, Neves publicly urged the participants of the meeting to 
switch their focus to the national priorities of the moment, 
namely the revision of the Constitution and the international 
financial crisis. Neves said that the party's current internal 
priorities should be the election of new PAICV officers, 
including party president and regional party leaders.  Alluding 
to the presence of the Central Bank President and the President 
of the Food Regulator Agency at the Lima rally, Neves decried 
insertion of the Bank of Cape Verde and `regulatory agencies' 
into `political disputes'. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Neves' candidate David Hopffer Almada reportedly wanted 
further investigation into whether the organizers of the Lima 
event were breaking party ethics rule by internally allying to 
promote candidates.  However, another PAICV parliamentarian told 
PolOff that Almada was persuaded that this issue would best be 
resolved through closed doors discussions involving only the 
party. 
 
MPD LEADER JORGE SANTOS ALSO FACES CRITICISM 
 
¶7. (SBU) The PAICV is not the only political party dealing with 
internal struggles.  The main opposition party, MpD, has 
identified a presidential candidate in former Prime Minister and 
de facto MPD leader Carlos Veiga, but can't reach consensus in 
its pick for party president.  Party members are criticizing 
current party president Jorge Santos for agreeing to work with 
Prime Minister Neves on PAICV proposals to reform the justice 
sector (reftel).  They are unhappy that by working in concert 
with PAICV to solve a judicial crisis, Santos may have helped 
the PAICV government more than he helped MpD.  The MpD is 
focused on winning the 2011 elections.  Under increasing 
pressure, Jorge Santos has publicly admitted that he is 
considering resigning as party president.  In informal 
conversations, Post has also heard that MPD leadership has 
approached other rising stars within the party to gauge their 
interest in challenging Santos in the next internal party 
elections. 
 
UCID'S PRESIDENTS FIGHTING FOR LEGITIMACY 
 
¶8. (SBU) Though small and concentrated only on the islands of 
Santiago, Sao Vicente and Santo Antao, UCID has not been immune 
to internal party turmoil.  While the bulk of UCID support has 
always been on the island of Sao Vicente, members in Santiago 
have recently been asserting pressure for Praia to become the 
official seat of the party.  The internal dispute erupted into a 
full public battle for control of the party when both islands 
held elections for party president and refused to recognize the 
other island's choice.  This fight eventually went to the 
Supreme Court of Justice, which analyzed the party's regulations 
and ruled in favor of the faction based on the island of Sao 
Vicente, which had protested that the Santiago faction's 
`election' was not valid under the existing party statutes. 
Despite this setback, a significant number of Santiago UCID 
members are still challenging Sao Vicente leadership. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Comment.  Internal party democracy is alive and well in 
Cape Verdean politics, although perhaps to the dismay of current 
party leaders.  Is has long been known that Prime Minister Neves 
had a preferred presidential candidate, but his failure to 
discuss this matter earlier has led to dissention in the ranks. 
Neves may have expected that his backing of Almada would have 
confirmed his candidacy, but that is certainly no longer the 
case.  Almada may be more charismatic, and arguably more 
attractive to voters, but Lima has some powerful and shrewd 
support within the party.  While national elections are still 
two years away, PAICV looks disorganized and divided, and some 
damage control might be needed to restore public faith in the 
party. 
 
¶10. (SBU) This situation for PAICV would be more serious if not 
for equally divisive internal issues within MpD and UCID.  No 
party shows a totally united front, and the way in which each 
party solves its internal issues could go a long way in 
influencing voters.  MpD is acutely aware of this, as internal 
party divisions are blamed for their defeat in the 2001 
elections.  Post will continue to track the factious but 
otherwise healthy jockeying for position within each of the 
parties in the run-up to the 2011 national elections. End Comment 
 
 
DUNN