Cape Verde's ruling party maintained its grip on the legislature in weekend polls, the West African archipelago nation's electoral commission said Monday.
Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva's Movement for Democracy (Mpd) won 37 out of 72 seats in the national assembly, giving the party an absolute majority, according to the commission.
The 58-year-old had already claimed victory on Sunday evening after results showed his party had won 36 seats.
The African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV), a socialist party that was the MpD's main contender, won 29 seats.
A tiny archipelago of 550,000 people lying around 600 kilometres (375 miles) off the coast of Senegal, Cape Verde is hailed as a bastion of democracy in Africa.
In 1990, one-party rule in the former Portuguese colony was swept away, leading to the first multi-party elections the following year.
In 2016, the MpD ended the PAICV's 15-year run with a historic victory, gaining 40 out of the 72 seats in the single-chamber national assembly.
However, PAICV leader Janira Hopffer Almada hoped to reverse her party's fortunes and become the country's first woman prime minister.
Addressing supporters on Sunday evening, the 42-year-old conceded defeat and announced that she would step down as party leader.
Another party, the Cape Verdean Independent and Democratic Union, won 4 seats, the electoral commission said.
Three other small parties contesting the poll failed to win seats.
Over 98 percent of the votes have been counted, the electoral commission said on Monday. Two seats reserved for Cape Verdeans living abroad remain to be filled.
Cape Verde has a semi-parliamentary system in which the prime minister wields executive power while the president plays the part of arbitrator in the event of intractable disputes.
In a continent marked by political unrest, coups or monolithic rulers who have been in power for decades, the tiny Atlantic archipelago stands out.
It ranks just behind Mauritius as the most democratic country in sub-Saharan Africa in the Economist Intelligence Unit's 2020 Democracy Index.
The coronavirus pandemic has battered the country's economy, however, which relies heavily on tourism.
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