Prime Minister of Cape Verde
This article lists the prime ministers of Cape Verde, an island country in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of West Africa, since the establishment of the office of prime minister in 1975. Pedro Pires was the first person to hold the office, ta ...
Praia
Praia (, Portuguese for "beach") is the capital and largest city of Cape Verde.island of Santiago, and later, he graduated in 1971 from the
University of Lisbon
The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; pt, Universidade de Lisboa, ) is a public research university in Lisbon, and the largest university in Portugal. It was founded in 2013, from the merger of two previous public universities located in Lisbon, th ...
with a degree in law. Veiga's Jewish maternal grandfather immigrated to Cape Verde from
Gibraltar
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, song = "Gibraltar Anthem"
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, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
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in the 1940s. He is Cape Verde's first ambassador to
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
of Jewish descent.
Career
After briefly living in Angola from 1972 to 1974, Veiga returned to Cape Verde in 1975, the year that it became independent, to join the
African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde
The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde ( pt, Partido Africano para a Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde, PAIGC) is a political party in Guinea-Bissau. Originally formed to peacefully campaign for independence from ...
(PAIGC). During his time in the PAIGC, Veiga served the Ministry of Public Administration from 1975 to 1980 as a judge. After leaving 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 pa ...
, he resumed his legal career and led the bar of Cape Verde from 1982 to 1986.
Politics
In 1985, Veiga was elected to 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 r ...
as an independent candidate. Later, in 1989, Veiga was selected to become the president for the Movement for Democracy Party. After the 1991 elections, the Prime Minister of Cape Verde,
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 ...
stepped down and Veiga took his place.
Veiga served as Prime Minister under President
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 ...
, and resigned in July 2000 in order to stand as the MpD's candidate in the 2001 presidential election. He was succeeded as Prime Minister by
Gualberto do Rosário
António Gualberto do Rosário () (born October 12, 1950) was Prime Minister of Cape Verde from 29 July 2000 to 1 February 2001. He was also the acting Prime Minister from July to October 2000 and Leader of the Movement for Democracy.
Political ...
.
In the 2001 presidential election, Veiga lost by 17 votes to
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 pa ...
(PAICV) in the second round of voting. He ran again for president in the 2006 presidential election, but he was defeated again by Pires. He ran for president a third time in the 2021 presidential election, and lost to
José Maria Neves
José Maria Pereira Neves (; born 28 March 1960) is a Cape Verdean politician who is currently the president of Cape Verde, having previously served as the Prime Minister of Cape Verde from 2001 to 2016. He is a member of the African Party for th ...