Cape Verde – Constitutional reform deal

In Cape Verde the ruling PAICV party (Partido Africano da Independência de Cabo Verde) and the opposition MPD party (Movimento para a Democracia) have agreed the bones of a deal to change the constitution. Previously, a constitutional committee, the Comissão Eventual da Revisão Constitucional (CERC), had been considering what changes needed to be introduced. At the beginning of this week, the two main parties in the system agreed a common document, the text of which is available in Portuguese here.

The propositions cover a lot of areas, the most contentious of which deals with the judicial system. However, there are a couple of explicitly semi-presidential-related items.

Currently, Art. 142-2 states that the president can dissolve the National Assembly in the case of a serious institutional crisis, but only after the agreement of the Council of the Republic, a consultative body that is a hangover from the Portuguese influence over the constitution. Anyway, it is agreed that the need for the Council’s approval should be abolished.

Also, currently Art. 201-1 states that the government has to resign if it loses a motion of confidence or if it is defeated in two motions of no-confidence. The PAICV want to reduce this to one defeat, but there is no agreement between the parties. It is unclear to me why the opposition MPD would oppose this change, given it would stand to gain if the government were to get into difficulty. However, perhaps they think that if they return to power they could be the victim of the change.

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