Africa-Press – Cape verde. Fidel Cardoso de Pina, outgoing president of the PAICV Youth, is a candidate for another term to, as he says, “reaffirm” the JPAI as “the best youth organization in the country, with great capacity to influence”. At the congress, scheduled for the 6th to the 8th of April, he guarantees that there will be a renewal of more than 90% of the members.
In an interview with A NAÇÃO, Fidel Cardoso de Pina says that he decided to re-candidate after “deep reflection”, at a time when the country is facing a difficult situation, after facing a pandemic, from which young people emerged as one of the most affected fringes.
“We thought that we had already taken our heads out of the water after the pandemic, and now we have the situation in Ukraine, which has already started to have an impact on several essential products. Not to mention the young people who are studying, for example, in Portugal and who have already started to suffer”, he explained, indicating that this difficult situation for young people, both in the country and in the diaspora, is one of the main factors that motivate this re-application.
The JPAI congress is scheduled for the 6th, 7th and 8th of April, and precedes the PAICV congress, to be held on the 8th, 9th and 10th. “It will be a moment of great mobilization, a high moment for our organization and of the entire party, in which all its youth converges to debate the current political situation in the country and especially in terms of youth”, he advanced.
Renovation around 90%
The time will also be to renew the bodies, from the president to the national commission, national jurisdiction commission, as well as the JPAI delegates who will be part of the PAICV congress, which will have around 125 delegates, from the country and the diaspora.
Even the current team, wanting a second mandate, Fidel Cardoso guarantees that the JPAI will have, with the congress, a renewal of around 90% in its bodies, this because several of the leaders of the current direction will no longer be part of the J, for statutory age-related issues.
On the other hand, he stresses, several “well-educated” young people will be available to join the ranks of the party, both in regional and national structures.
the voice of youth
The newest elected deputy of the parliamentary house guarantees that the JPAI wants, on the one hand, to be the voice of the youth, claiming what are the desires of young people, but also to continue to present proposals and policy measures that can solve the major constraints. in youth.
“JPAI is a nursery for the PAICV, but it is also a great school of citizenship. This candidacy also aims to consolidate what JPAI is, we want to assert ourselves as the best youth organization in the country”, he guarantees.
This statement extends, according to the candidate, to Portuguese-speaking and African spaces, ensuring that great steps have already been taken in this direction, thanks to the influence that the organization has had on the International Union of Socialist Youth, which houses more than 150 youth organizations”, points.
Good relations in the international space
In fact, in this regard, he emphasizes, the relationship with international counterparts has been excellent, pointing out exchanges and exchanges with organizations from Guinea-Bissau, Angola, Portugal and São Tomé e Príncipe, the latter where he intends, in the next term, to launch a structure of the JPAI, taking into account the historical roots between the two archipelagos, but also for the good relationship of cooperation and friendship.
Faced with criticism about the time he spends outside the country, Cardoso de Pina recalls that the president of the JPAI is national, and that there are regional councils, in which each council has a president.
“I represent the organization at an institutional level. This implies moving to islands and out of the country. During my term of office I have been to all the islands, more than once, except Brava, where I was unable to attend, due to alignment between our agenda and the maritime connection. At the diaspora level I went to the USA, Guinea, Angola, Portugal, where I had meetings with young people and organizations, always with agendas as president of JPAI. I’m not going on vacation.”
Contributions to youth
Among the contributions that the organization has given to youth, the young politician points to his presence and intervention in “all the high moments of national political life”, namely, State budgets, State of the Nation, beginning of the academic year, Day of Youth, and other commemorative dates.
“We were always present, diagnosing the current situation of youth, but also proposing solutions. I think this is one of the main contributions that we have made”, he said, pointing to gains such as the existence today of an assistant minister for youth, which, according to him, was a demand of the JPAI.
“We don’t have what we wanted, because we asked for an independent ministry within the government’s organizational structure, and we have an assistant minister, but at least we got something”, he pointed out, adding, in the same vein, the existence today of a structure that responds for youth, which is the Institute of Sport and Youth (IDJ).
In fact, from his perspective, JPAI’s greatest asset is precisely its ability to influence. “It’s the voice it manages to have in the media, the problems it manages to raise so that the government can respond and resolve. We could have done more, but our organization also suffers from a pandemic, which is the financial pandemic, which sometimes makes our actions difficult”, he lamented.
Renewal of PAICV
The JPAI, according to Fidel Cardoso de Pina, has played a key role in the renewal of the PAICV. An example of this is the fact that several cadres of the organization joined the party, the national bodies, but also at the level of sectors and regional political commissions.
On the other hand, he indicated, about 30 young people were elected municipal deputies in the last municipal elections, which he considers an extremely positive data.
“Some are even presidents of the municipal assembly, as is the case of the current vice president, who is president of the AM dos Mosteiros, or my representative who is president of the AM of Santa Cruz. We have several young councilors, municipal deputies and our great ambition is to have, in the next elections, a president of the JPA mayor and I hope that happens”, he said, revealing the ambition to also have more young people in parliament.
The youth organization is seen as one of the PAICV’s legs, together with the PAICV Women’s Federation.
“I often say that J turns out to be the lungs of the PAICV, because it helps to breathe, to bring innovation, creativity, energy and I think it is fundamental for the party, and will be even more so in the next clashes”, he analyzed.
As for the level of demand, compared to when his party was in government, he says that it is proportional to the current political reality and that, as for the PAICV, the population has already evaluated and made its choice.
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