The National Assembly (

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

: ''Assembleia Nacional'') is the

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

legislative body A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers o ...

of the Republic of Cabo Verde.

History

National People's Assembly (1975–1991)

The country's first legislative election took place in June 1975. The body was known as the National People's Assembly and its members came from the

African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (, PAIGC) is a political party in Guinea-Bissau. Originally formed to peacefully campaign for independence from Portugal, the party turned to armed conflict in the 1960s and was o ...

(PAIGC), which was the sole political party allowed to field candidates. They elected PAIGC Secretary-general

Aristides Pereira Aristides Maria Pereira (; 17 November 1923 – 22 September 2011) was a Cape Verdean politician. He was the first President of Cape Verde, serving from 1975 to 1991. Biography Pereira was born in Fundo das Figueiras, on the island of Boa Vist ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

on 5 July 1975, when the country officially gained independence from

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

One-party A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system or single-party system is a governance structure in which only a single political party controls the ruling system. In a one-party state, all opposition parties are either outlawed or en ...

parliamentary elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

were again held on 7 December 1980 with Pereira being re-elected unopposed by the Assembly on 12 February 1981. That same year the Cape Verdean branch of the PAIGC, which was also the ruling party in

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa that covers with an estimated population of 2,026,778. It borders Senegal to Guinea-Bissau–Senegal border, its north and Guinea to Guinea–Guinea-Bissau b ...

, was renamed

African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde The African Party for Independence of Cape Verde (, PAICV) is a democratic socialist political party in Cape Verde. It was the sole legal party in the country from 1981 to 1990. Its members are nicknamed "" (the tamarinds) in Portuguese, and t ...

(PAICV). The 1985 parliamentary election for an enlarged 83-seat National People's Assembly took place on 7 December 1985. For the first time a few independent, PAICV-endorsed candidates won seats in the legislature. In 1990, Cape Verde became one of the first African countries to abandon one-party rule and embrace

multiparty In political science, a multi-party system is a political system where more than two meaningfully-distinct political parties regularly run for office and win elections. Multi-party systems tend to be more common in countries using proportional r ...

democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

National Assembly (1991–2016)

The first multiparty National Assembly elections took place on 13 January 1991. The ruling PAICV was soundly defeated by the opposition Movement for Democracy (MPD), which won 56 out of 79 seats compared to the PAICV's 23. The elections were considered transparent, free, and fair. In the next election, held on 17 December 1995, the number of Assembly seats was reduced from 79 to 72. The MPD won 50 seats and the PAICV won 21. The Democratic Convergence Party (PCD) won the remaining seat. After the elections on 14 January 2001, the Assembly has a total of 72 directly elected members who serve five-year terms. They are elected from 16 multi-member

constituencies An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

using the

D'Hondt method The D'Hondt method, also called the Jefferson method or the greatest divisors method, is an apportionment method for allocating seats in parliaments among federal states, or in proportional representation among political parties. It belongs to ...

party-list proportional representation Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a system of proportional representation based on preregistered Political party, political parties, with each party being Apportionment (politics), allocated a certain number of seats Apportionm ...

. Four parties and one coalition contested the election of 2001. They were the PAICV, MPD, Democratic Renewal Party (PRD), and the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(PSD). Three parties—the Democratic Convergence Party (PCD),

Democratic and Independent Cape Verdean Union The Democratic and Independent Cape Verdean Union (, UCID) is a conservative political party in Cape Verde. History The party had its roots in the Democratic Union of Cape Verde (''União Democrática de Cabo Verde'', UDCV), a group that emerged ...

(UCID), and the

Labour and Solidarity Party The Labour and Solidarity Party (, PTS) is a social democratic political party in Cape Verde. It is based in São Vicente and led by Gilson Alves. History The party was founded by Onésimo Silveira in November 1998. In the buildup to the Janu ...

(PTS)—formed a coalition known as the

Democratic Alliance for Change The Democratic Alliance for Change (, ADM) was a political alliance in Cape Verde in the early 2000s. History The ADM was established in the buildup to the January 2001 parliamentary elections as an alliance of the Democratic and Independent Cape ...

(ADM). The election results were as follows: PAICV - 49.50% of the vote and 40 seats
MPD - 40.55% of the vote and 30 seats
ADM - 6.12% of the vote and 2 seats
PRD - 3.38% of the vote and no seats
PSD - 0.45% of the vote and no seats Eight women won seats in the National Assembly.

National Assembly (2016–present)

Following the

parliamentary election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

in March 2016, the Movement for Democracy party won a majority of the seats in the election. This was the first time the ruling party PAICV have lost their majority in the parliament. Following the election

Ulisses Correia e Silva José Ulisses de Pina Correia e Silva (; born 4 June 1962) is a Cape Verdean businessman and politician who has been Prime Minister of Cape Verde since 22 April 2016. He took office after his party, the Movement for Democracy, won the 20 March ...

became Prime Minister and Jorge Pedro Maurício dos Santos was elected President of the National Assembly. Following this defeat, the former ruling party the PAICV lost morale and lost in the local and

presidential Presidential may refer to: * "Presidential" (song), a 2005 song by YoungBloodZ * Presidential Airways (charter), an American charter airline based in Florida * Presidential Airways (scheduled), an American passenger airline active in the 1980s * ...

elections in the same year.

Presidents of the National Assembly

Constituencies

Cape Verde has thirteen constituencies for the National Assembly, of which 10 are in Cape Verde and the other three are abroad.Election results 2016
Comissão Nacional de Eleições

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:National Assembly Of Cape Verde Politics of Cape Verde Political organizations based in Cape Verde Government of Cape Verde

Cape Verde Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

1975 establishments in Cape Verde