PRAIA: Cape Verde islanders will vote in a run-off presidential election Sunday, to find a successor to Pedro Pires whose ruling party lost to the main opposition in a first round poll two weeks ago.
The main opposition Movement for Democracy (MFD) candidate Jorge Carlos Fonseca, a former foreign minister, heads to the run-off in the lead, having won over 37 percent of votes in the first round.
His rival Manuel Inocencio Sousa, minister of infrastructure, transport and maritime affairs from the ruling African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV), had 32 percent.
Observers say divisions within the ruling party could hamper their chances.
Former head of the National Assembly, Aristides Lima, ran as an independent after losing the official candidature to Sousa, and won 27 percent in the first round.
Prime Minister Jose Maria Neves recently called on leaders and supporters of the ruling party to lay down their differences.
"It is the time for union, internal political debate and cohesion so that we can win the coming electoral battle," local media reported him as saying.
The two parties have each ruled for a decade since multi-party elections were introduced in 1991, with results typically neck-and-neck. In 2006 presidential elections the PAICV won with 50.98 to the MFD's 49.02 percent.
The former Portuguese colony off the northwestern coast of Africa, made up of 10 main islands and eight islets, is often lauded for its political and economic stability despite meagre natural resources.
During the first round of voting on August 7, African Union observers said that the election was "free and transparent" while noting "some imperfections" such as the late opening of some polling stations.
The electoral commission announced that 47.4 percent of 305,000 registered voters had stayed away.
Sunday's election kicks of at 7:00 am (0800 GMT) and polling stations close at 5:00 pm, with initial results expected several hours later, according to the electoral commission.
Provisional results are expected by August 24 and the final outcome will be announced by the Supreme Court by August 26.
Pires steps down after serving two terms at the helm; however his party retains an absolute majority in parliament after February legislative polls in which Neves, the head of government, was re-elected.
Since coming to power in 2001, the ruling party has overseen a decade of growth averaging six percent and a spate of development work including the construction of three international airports, ports, and hundreds of kilometres of roads.
Lauded for its stable democracy and peaceful elections, Cape Verde in 2008 became only the second ever country after Botswana to be promoted by the United Nations out of the ranks of the 50 least developed countries.
However despite impressive growth rates it is still vulnerable and highly dependent on international aid.
Unemployment in Cape Verde is officially pegged at 13 percent although the opposition has put it as high as 18 percent, and more of its nationals live abroad (700,000) than at home (500,000).
The archipelago of sandy beaches, lush valleys and arid volcanic rock has an economy dominated by the service sector, which represents 85 percent of GDP. Tourism contributed 25 percent to GDP with 400,000 visitors in 2010.
Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011
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