Carlos Vila Nova has secured a second five-year term as president of Sao Tome and Principe, with the election commission announcing on Monday that he claimed more than 55% of the vote in Sunday's poll, a margin sufficient to avoid a runoff against his three opponents. The commission made the declaration, based on preliminary results, during a press conference.
Vila Nova, who previously served as minister of public works and infrastructure, first came to power in 2021 with the support of the Independent Democratic Action party (ADI), which controls a majority in the National Assembly. However, the alliance broke down after he dismissed Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada last year.
Split from Former Allies
The falling-out meant he contested Sunday's vote without his former party's backing, standing instead as an independent candidate. His rivals in the race had made youth unemployment and emigration central campaign issues. One of the other candidates had vowed to create more jobs for young people and address what he described as a growing exodus from the country, which comprises two main islands and has a population of roughly 240,000.
According to Reuters, Vila Nova's victory margin was sufficient to avoid a second round. The small island nation of about 240,000 people has held free and peaceful elections since multiparty politics began in 1990.
Nation with a History of Peaceful Polls
Sao Tome and Principe, a former Portuguese colony located off the western coast of Africa, adopted multiparty politics in 1990 and has since maintained a record of free and peaceful elections. The country's economy relies on cocoa production and once drew interest as a possible oil producer, though exploration efforts have not resulted in major finds. In 2022, the government said it had foiled a coup attempt, the first such incident in nearly two decades, with the alleged plot linked to at least one former member of the Buffalo Battalion, a South African militia associated with the apartheid era.
Four people were killed in that failed coup attempt, the state news agency STP-Press reported, citing the armed forces chief of staff. The military announced that 'four human lives were lost' after 'exchanges of fire' at a military site. Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada told STP-Press that 'four citizens' and 12 soldiers and fighters from South Africa's officially disbanded Buffalo Battalion were involved in the attempted overnight putsch. The army said 12 serving soldiers were involved, who were 'neutralised and captured' after trying to storm military sites, and three of them died from their wounds despite efforts to save them.
