Opposition criticizes “deep change” for Cape Verde’s recognition of Morocco

The president of the PAICV, the largest Cape Verdean opposition party, Rui Semedo, criticized today the territorial recognition of Morocco announced by the government, led by the MpD, for being a “profound change” and without consulting the commitments made internationally.

“The content of this pronouncement represents a profound change in Cape Verde’s foreign policy,” the president of the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV) said at a press conference in Praia, referring to Cape Verde’s commitments, bound through the United Nations to a formal position on the process of autonomy and independence of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic.

“It is strange that a decision of this magnitude is announced, in this unofficial way, outside the country, without any dialogue or debate with the Cape Verdeans and without any information to the parliamentary opposition, namely the PAICV”, criticized Rui Semedo.

Cape Verdean Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva, president of the Movement for Democracy (MpD, in power since 2016), began his first official visit to Morocco on Tuesday, with the government recognizing Morocco’s “territorial integrity.

According to a note from the Cape Verdean government, the visit, at the invitation of the head of the Government of Morocco, “constitutes an important milestone in the relations between the two countries,” marked by the holding of the second Cape Verde – Morocco Joint Commission in Rabat, under the theme “Building a New Era of Strategic and Pragmatic Cooperation and Partnership between Cape Verde and Morocco.”

“The visit comes at a special moment in Cape Verde-Morocco relations, with the formalization of Cape Verde’s recognition of the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Morocco, among other initiatives that strengthen the political and diplomatic basis for exploring and developing cooperation between the two nations,” the same note said.

“Cooperation with Morocco is not from today; it is old, including everyone is reminded that we have agreements that allow the circulation of aviation in our spaces, there has been cooperation in the area of training, we have students who have graduated and continue to graduate in Morocco, for many years,” Rui Semedo pointed out, stressing that the party, which was in power in Cape Verde from 2001 to 2016, does not question the interest of the Prime Minister’s visit, which ends on Friday.

However, Rui Semedo recalled that the “great impasse” created by Morocco’s territorial claims and the war that was spreading in that region, which could threaten peace in that part of North Africa, had previously led the United Nations to decide to consult the Saharawi people through a referendum, and that Cape Verde considered it “realistic and relevant” to align itself with this position.

Hence, for the president of the PAICV, the government’s announcement marks Cape Verde’s departure from the position previously taken by the country, arguing that it should be done with “responsibility, depth, clarity, coherence and with a high sense of state.

With information from Lusa

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