The Movement for Democracy ( pt, Movimento para a Democracia, MpD) is a Christian democratic and

liberal party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

. Established in 1990, it was the ruling party from 1991 to 2001 and returned to power in the 2016 parliamentary election. Its members are nicknamed "" (the wind fans) in Portuguese, a reference to the party's logo.

History

The MpD was established on 14 March 1990 by Carlos Veiga after Prime Minister

Pedro Pires Pedro de Verona Rodrigues Pires (; born 29 April 1934) is a Cape Verdean politician who served as Prime Minister of Cape Verde from 1975 to 1991, and later as President from 2001 to 2011. Life and career Pires was born in São Filipe, Fogo, Cape ...

of the

African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde The African Party of Independence of Cape Verde ( pt, Partido Africano da Independência de Cabo Verde, PAICV) is a democratic socialist political party in Cape Verde. It was formerly a Marxist–Leninist communist party and the sole legal par ...

(PAICV, formerly the sole legal party) allowed its creation.Richard A Lobban Jr & Paul Khalil Saucier (2007) ''Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Cape Verde'', Scarecrow Press, p. 159 The party was publicly launched in May 1990, and its first convention was held in November 1990. In the January 1991 parliamentary elections, the first multi-party elections in the country's history, the MpD won 56 of the 79 seats in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

. In the

presidential elections A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pr ...

the following month, MpD candidate

António Mascarenhas Monteiro António Manuel Mascarenhas Gomes Monteiro (; 16 February 1944 – 16 September 2016) was the first democratically elected President of Cape Verde from 22 March 1991 to 22 March 2001. Early life and education Born in Ribeira da Barca in 1944 ...

defeated the incumbent PAICV President Aristides Pereira. Following the MpD's second convention in January 1993, splits developed within the party, with two groups, List A and List B, emerging. A split in 1994 led to the creation of the Democratic Convergence Party. Despite losing six seats, the party retained its parliamentary majority in the 1995 elections, whilst Monteiro was re-elected unopposed in the

the following year. The January 2001 parliamentary elections saw the party lose another 20 seats, as it was defeated by the PAICV. In the February 2001 presidential elections the MpD nominated Veiga, but he was defeated by the PAICV's Pires by just 12 votes in the second round of voting. In the 2006 parliamentary elections the party lost another seat and was reduced to 29 MPs. Veiga was again defeated by Pires in the

later in the year. Despite gaining three seats in the 2011 parliamentary elections, the MpD remained in opposition. However, in the

in the same year, MpD candidate

Jorge Carlos Fonseca Jorge Carlos de Almeida Fonseca (; born 20 October 1950)
is a

defeated the PAICV's

Manuel Inocêncio Sousa Manuel Inocêncio Sousa (born 22 June 1951) is a Cape Verdean politician. Sousa was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cape Verde from 2001 to 2002 and subsequently Minister of Infrastructure, Transports and Sea. Biography Manuel Inocêncio Sousa wa ...

by 54–46%. In July 2013

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 ...

, the mayor of the capital, Praia, became party's new chairman, following Carlos Veiga, who stepped down after five years. Fonseca was re-elected as president in the 2016 presidential election. The MpD also won a majority in the National Assembly during the 2016 parliamentary elections, ending fifteen years of PAICV majorities in that body and electing its leader Ulisses Correia e Silva as Prime Minister of Cape Verde.

Electoral history

Presidential elections

National Assembly elections

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Political parties established in 1990 Centrist parties in Africa Liberal parties in Africa Political parties in Cape Verde 1990 establishments in Cape Verde Christian democratic parties in Africa