Africa-Press – Cape verde. The National Elections Commission (CNE) notified the Ministry of Finance on Thursday, the 17th, to suspend the conference on “Paths to success: entrepreneurship, training, professional development and qualifications” scheduled for today.
The conference is to be led by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Olavo Correia, who arrived on the island of Fogo on Thursday afternoon.
The decision came after a complaint by the political party PAICV against some public entities under the supervision of the Ministry of Finance, namely the Employment and Professional Training Centre of the island of Fogo and Pró-Empresa, considering that holding the conference violates the principle of neutrality and impartiality established in article 97 of the Electoral Code.
“Taking into account the reported facts, which if proven could constitute a violation of the duty of neutrality and impartiality that falls upon public office holders, and that the event is scheduled for the 18th, the members of the CNE unanimously decided to warn the promoters that during the election period, especially during the pre-campaign period, office holders are bound by the duty of neutrality and impartiality”, reads the CNE note.
This principle, the same source adds in the note addressed to the director of the Office of the Ministry of Finance, “requires that office holders be equidistanced from the various candidacies and that they not use public resources or their disposal to directly or indirectly influence the election campaign and that the violation of this principle constitutes an electoral crime”.
“Given that there are well-founded doubts about the nature of the event in question, the members also decided to notify the defendants to suspend the execution of the act until full clarification is provided, and to this end, they must exercise their right to a hearing within 48 hours from the date of receipt of this notification”, highlights the note from the CNE.
In the complaint filed, the PAICV points out that people linked to the event are candidates in the local elections, namely António Cardoso, executive director of the IEFP, and member of the MpD list for the São Filipe council, and Thomás Monteiro, head of Pro-empresa, is fifth on the list for the São Filipe council.
In the complaint, the PAICV also stated that it is “serious that Thomás is calling on all the young people who previously received kits from the Government to be at the event with transport and some to make testimonial statements at the event”.
“The objective is clearly to influence the voting spirit of young people with this event,” the largest opposition party argues in its complaint, adding that the organizers have already prepared vehicles to transport all students enrolled at the Employment Center and that they say that participation is mandatory, under penalty of being marked as absent.
Likewise, the PAICV has filed a complaint against the holding today of the conference on “Youth and opportunities in the context of the 2025 State Budget”, led by government figures, including the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Olavo Correia, the Minister-Assistant to the Prime Minister for Youth and Sports, Carlos Monteiro, and the Minister of Education, Amadeu Cruz.
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