The government type in Cape Verde is Democratic Republic. The political system of the country is comprised of executive body, legislative body and judicial body.
The Executive Body consists of the President, the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers. The President is the head of the state and the National Assembly and elected directly through a secret ballot. The Prime Minister is the head of the government. The Prime Minister is nominated by the National Assembly and elected by The President.
The parliament, known as the Assembleia Nacional or the National Assembly, is unicameral. It is comprised of 72 members, directly elected for a term of five years.
Major Political parties in Cape Verde include:
- African Party for Independence of Cape Verde
- Democratic and Independent Cape Verdean Union
- Movement for Democracy
(Source: governo.cv, parlamento.cv, presidenciarepublica.cv, state.gov, IPU)
Regulatory Environment in Cape Verde
The executive powers are exercised by the President, the Prime Minister and the Council Ministers. The Legislative Powers are exercised by the National Assembly.
The President is the Supreme Commander of Armed Forces, and has powers to dissolve the national assembly in the situation of institutional crisis, to appoint the Prime Minister and the Judge President of the Supreme Court.
The Prime minister has the right to direct and coordinate government policies and operations.
The legislative powers include approving the constitutional laws, to make laws on all matters, to approve the state budget and the proposal of government, to approve international treaties and agreements.
The National Assembly has the rights to approve and prepare the rules of procedure of the National Assembly, to establish the special committee and ad hoc commission.
(Source: presidenciarepublica.cv, presidenciarepublica.cv)
The country’s economic freedom score is 64.6 making its economy 65th freest in the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom. It ranks 3rd out of 46 countries in the Sub-Saharan Africa region.
(Source: heritage.org)
Corruption perception
Cape Verde is placed at 45th position in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2010 with a score of 5.1. CPI measures the perceived level of public-sector corruption in 178 countries and territories around the world.
(Source: transparency.org)
Freedom of Information
The freedom of media and press in the country is guaranteed by law. Majority of the media is state owned but there are private press and private broadcasters.
(Source: BBC, freedomhouse.org)
Cape Verde was ranked at 26th position in the World Press Freedom Index 2010, with a score of 8, indicating low levels of media restriction. (Source: rsf.org)
Newspapers
Major newspapers in the country include:
- Jornal Horizonte
- Expresso das Ilhas
- A Semana
(Source: BBC)
Judicial system
The Judicial System of Cape Verde is comprised of:
- The Supreme Court and courts of first instance
- The Court of Auditors
- The Military Court of Instance
- The Tax and Custom Court
The Supreme Court is the highest court of justice in the country.
(Source: presidenciarepublica.cv)