JULIO RODRIGUES CAPE Verde held parliamentary elections yesterday, with the ruling party Movement for Democracy (MpD) pitted against its main challenger, the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV). A cluster of 10 volcanic islands 570 km (350 miles) off Senegal, Cape Verde stands out as a pocket of relative stability in the region, having held democratic elections since it gained independence from Portugal in 1975. "I voted to change the situation here. We need to have new policies for health and security," said Flavia Andrade, a young voter in the capital Praia. With a quarter of the…