(3 minutes read)
The center-left coalition in Sao Tome and Principe held its elections for parliament yesterday (Sunday) to gain a sizable majority in the house. Presently, it has a fragile majority over the center-right in the small, Portuguese-speaking state
The center-left coalition in Sao Tome and Principe held its elections for parliament yesterday (Sunday) to gain a sizable majority in the house. Presently, it has a fragile majority over the center-right in the small, Portuguese-speaking state. With its alternating elections, the country is considered a model of archipelago parliamentary democracy in Africa.
Over 100,000 voters of a population of 215,000 will be electing their 55 deputies of the National Assembly for a four-year term. Elections for the regional and municipal offices are also taking place simultaneously.
Two major parties have been vying for the country’s leadership since its independence from Portugal in 1975. They are the Independent Democratic Action (ADI, center-right) and the ruling Movement for the Liberation of Sao Tome and Principe-Social Democratic Party (MLSTP-PSD, center-left).
Read Also:
In 2021, Santomeans elected an ADI president, Carlos Vila Nova. But the executive branch has been held primarily by prime minister Jorge Lopes Bom Jesus of the MLSTP. In 2018, a coalition of left-wing parties won the 2018 legislative elections. A majority for the ADI and its allies in the election would end cohabitation at the top of the state.
