Jorge Carlos Fonseca elected president of Cape Verde

Praia, Cape Verde (PANA) - Jorge Carlos Fonseca, candidate of the main opposition political party, the Movement for Democracy, Monday won the second round of the presidential election in Cape Verde with 53.38% of the votes.

Fonseca beat Manuel Inocêncio Sousa, candidate of the ruling party, who got 46.68% of the votes, official sources told PANA on Monday in Praia.

Fonseca won the first round on 7 August with 37.3% of the votes, while Sousa of the African party for Cape Verde’s independence (PAICV) got 32%.

Fonseca, a 60-year-old lawyer, therefore becomes Cape Verde’s fourth president after Aristides Pereira (1975-1991), Antonio Mascarenhas Monteiro (1991-2001) and Pedro Pires (2001-2011).

It will be the first time in Cape Verde's 36 years of independence that the country would have a President from a party that does not control the parliament.

In his first speech as president-elect, Fonseca said that he would honour his electoral programme.

He hailed the vote of confidence from the electorate, saying: ''I would do my best to live up to the expectations of the voters.''

Fonseca will be inaugurated in September.
-0- PANA CS /TON/CJB/TBM/SOC/MSA/SEG 22Aug2011