Cape Verde
Cape Verdean political budget crisis continues

afrol News, 23 May - The political crisis provoked by the Constitutional Court's ruling that the Cape Verdean budget was illegal continues to dominate the political life in the archipelago. While the ruling party has invited the opposition to revise the Constitution, the opposition leader instead sought an "urgent and essential" fiscal reform.

In December last year, the Cape Verdean government presented its year 2002 budget in Parliament, which included a significant increase in taxation. As the budget was approved against the votes of the opposition, the opposition party MPD presented its complaints to the Constitutional Court. After the Court earlier this month ruled that three of the budgetary articles were indeed unconstitutional, the MPD has demanded the resignation of Prime Minister José Maria Neves.

Neves - of the governmental African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV) - is not willing to step down unless a vote of no confidence against his government is approved in Parliament; unlikely as the PAICV enjoys majority. Meanwhile, the government has proposed to change the Cape Verdean constitution to avoid similar problems in the future. 

PAICV holds it should be within a majority government's powers to decide on the country's fiscal policy. According to the constitution, however, some fiscal aspects need a two-thirds parliamentary majority to be approves. The Constitutional Court had found that three articles in the 2002 budget were of such a character. 

The PAICV thus has invited other parties to search for an agreement to an extraordinary revision of the constitution. The constitutional reform should aim at that "any political force assuming governmental responsibilities with absolute majority can fearlessly implement its governance programme legitimised by popular vote," the official announcement read. This should in particular include a majority government's fiscal policies. 

Vice-President Crispina Gomes of the PAICV stressed that his party wanted to have the constitutional revision concluded before the presentation of the national budget for 2003, due in December this year. Gomes expected the MPD opposition to "take responsibility" and participate in the revision process. 

The leader of the parliamentary group of the Movement for Democracy (MPD), Rui Figueiredo Soares, this week told the press his party instead saw the solution to the political crisis in the joint development of a new fiscal policy. It was urgent to reach a "fiscal reform in Cape Verde and to arrive at the best solutions to make the country increase its competitiveness," he explained.

Soares did not exclude the possibility of constitutional reforms after this loss of face for the PAICV, but maintained that the real problem was the country's fiscal policies. But if a constitutional reform was necessary, his party would be "open to discuss the question," he confirmed. 

A constitutional reform in Cape Verde would demand the cooperation of both PAICV and MPD, as those two parties are the only one that could raise the necessary two-thirds majority to change the constitution. 

Meanwhile, Neves' government has given into the Court's ruling and is to nullify the three unconstitutional articles from the budget, meaning that taxes would not be increased. Then, the budget will have to be balanced in another manner, according to Finance Minister Carlos Burgo. 

Sources: Based on PAICV, MPD, Inforpress and afrol archives

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