Africa-Press – Cape verde. Four candidates of Cape Verdean origin were elected in the communal elections in Luxembourg, which took place on Sunday, 11 June. The highlight goes to Natalie Silva, despite being re-elected councilor, she was not reappointed to the position of burgomaster (president) of the Commune of Larochette.
Natalie Silva, who obtained the majority of voters in the Commune of Larochette, in the elections last Sunday, June 11, will not assume the position of burgomaster.
The head of the list of the CSV (Partido Popular Social Cristiano), obtained 442 votes from the voters, but did not deserve the trust of the other elected councilors who are part of the Communal Council. Therefore, Silva will not resume the role of burgomaster that she had held since 2017. In fact, she was the first candidate of Portuguese-speaking origin to reach this role in Luxembourg.
Between gratitude and disappointment
In a statement to Rádio Latina, in Luxembourg, Natalie Silva was, on the one hand, “honored and grateful for the trust of voters” in Larochette (northern Luxembourg). But, on the other hand, she confessed that she was “very disappointed with the outcome of these elections”, since the elected councilors did not re-elect her as burgomaster. This, as he says, “despite the fact that the people of Larochette have shown through their votes that they are satisfied with the work done” by her and her team. Silva guarantees that, even so, she will remain in the Communal Council and continue to work in favor of the commune.
The meeting of the nine elected members of the Communal Council took place on the morning of this Wednesday, June 14th. And during the voting to choose the new burgomaster there were four votes in favor of Natalie Silva and five in favor of Mirko Martellini, who will become the burgomaster of this commune for the next six years. It should be noted that Mirko was the second most voted in Larochette, with 89 fewer votes than Natalie Silva.
The other winners of Cape Verdean origin in these elections were Jairo Delgado, Starsky Flor and Alcinda Lopes, elected as councilors (councillors).
The economist, Janiro Delgado, who ran for the LASP (Socialist Workers’ Party of Luxembourg for the Ettelbruck Commune), was elected with 1,286 votes. For his part, civil engineer Starsky Selestino Flor, who ran as an independent in Useldange, managed to be elected with 334 votes. And Alcinda Medina Lopes, who also ran as an independent, was elected with 420 votes in the Schieren Commune.
It should be noted that in total there were 33 candidates of Cape Verdean origin who participated in these communal elections in Luxembourg. And of these four managed to elect themselves to councilor. In 2017 only two candidates were elected.
It should also be noted that this was the first election in which resident immigrants were able to vote.
After the Portuguese community, Cape Verdeans are the second largest group of foreigners in Luxembourg. Since the nineties, this grand duchy has been one of Cape Verde’s most important development partners. Given the living conditions offered by many Cape Verdeans, they have settled in this small European country.
Published in the weekly edition of the newspaper A NAÇÃO, no 824, of June 15, 2023
For More News And Analysis About Cape verde Follow Africa-Press
