INFIGHTING DISPLEASES PARTY LEADERSHIP

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