Africa-Press – Cape verde. The former president of UCID, António Monteiro, said he was considering another candidacy for São Vicente City Council due to family issues.
“It is still under analysis, because there are other demands that lead me to not decide quickly, as was the case at other times, on family issues”, said the national deputy, in an interview with Inforpress.
However, according to the same source, the decision must be taken “soon”, to then be communicated to the party, and then the president, the Permanent Committee and the Political Committee must analyze the issue and dictate the appropriate resolutions.
António Monteiro assured that from the conversations he had with the members of the UCID, they are counting on him for this challenge, but, for his part, he wants to count on the “full support” of the family.
For now, he asserted, he intends to continue dedicating himself “body and soul” to the role of national deputy and continue defending the interests of the electoral circle of São Vicente, for which he was elected and which he says has a “special place” in his heart.
In fact, asked about the state of the island he represents, the deputy stressed that the island “could be better”.
“São Vicente is an island that has extraordinary potential, but I think it has lost its luster”, considered António Monteiro, returning to the past of the 70s and 80s, in which the city of Mindelo was, he maintained, “a very dynamic at a commercial, sporting, cultural, intellectual and light industry level”.
The municipality, he argued, had “good strength”, but over the years it is clear that the island “has not been able to withstand the pace of development” and is being “overtaken” by other parts of the national territory.
When asked who is to blame, António Monteiro believes that “there is shared blame here”.
“There is blame on the part of the local government, which has not had the capacity and a long-range vision to be able to put together measures, policies, that help in this development and there is also the responsibility of the central government which, at certain times, does not give all the attention and does not provide the necessary resources for São Vicente to resume its journey”, he criticized.
In a range of “challenges”, António Monteiro pointed out the “decadence” of light industry on the island, the international airport still unable to receive night flights, the “serious situation” of young drug addicts and several others.
A panorama that, according to the same source, needs to be reversed, for São Vicente to “return to the level it deserves”.
António Delgado Monteiro, 62 years old, was born in São Tomé and Príncipe, the son of parents from the island of Santo Antão and has lived in Mindelo since he was 12 years old.
It was in 1994 that he participated for the first time in a campaign during the mid-term elections in São Vicente, in which he was part of the UCID list, led by Francisco Silva.
In 2004, the electromechanical engineer positioned himself for the first time as head of the list at the City Council, an election in which he was elected as councilor.
Since then, he has been at the head of the list, both in local and legislative bodies.
Now, for the next 2024 elections in São Vicente, he has not yet decided on his candidacy, but the other parties, the Cape Verde African Independence Party (PAICV, opposition) and the Movement for Democracy (MpD, power), have not yet officially announced their candidates.
Meanwhile, activist Carlos Araújo announced last year that he intends to run as an independent candidate.
In the 2020 elections, in addition to António Monteiro, Augusto Neves (MpD), Albertino Graça (PAICV) and Nelson Lopes from Movimento Independente Más Soncent (MIMS) ran for São Vicente City Council.
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