Advertisement

Opposition's Carlos Vila Nova becomes Sao Tome's new President

Tuesday September 07 2021
Sao Tome and Principe

Carlos Vila Nova, who has won the presidential election in Sao Tome and Principe. PHOTO | FILE

By ARNALDO VIEIRA

Carlos Vila Nova was on Monday confirmed as Sao Tome and Principe's new president after provisional results showed he won the second round of the presidential poll.

According to the National Electoral Commission (CNE), Vila Nova, supported by the country’s’ largest opposition party (ADI), won the second round of Sunday's presidential elections with 57.54 per cent of the votes. 

He beat Guilherme Posser da Costa from the ruling Sao Tome and Principe Liberation Movement (MLSTP/PSD) who came in second with 42.46 per cent of the vote.

The 69-year-old, a former MP and engineer trained in Algeria, once served as minister of public works, infrastructure, natural resources and environment.

“First of all, I would like to thank Sao Tome and Principe people for the civility and orderly way in which they participated in this election”, Vila Nova said in a press conference in Santarém Sunday.

“I would also like to thank the people of Sao Tome and Principe for the trust they placed in me. With the announcement of the preliminary results, I won those elections in a clear way and this result allows me to be considered as the elected President”, he added.

Advertisement

On July 18, the country held the seventh polls since independence from Portugal in 1975.

In the polls saw, Nova got 32,022 votes (34 per cent) while Posser da Costa got 16,829 (20.70) per cent.

Sao Tome and Principe is a Portuguese-speaking nation, consisting of two islands.

It lies off the north-western coast of Gabon and is Africa's second least populated country after Seychelles.

Its main exports are cocoa, copra, coffee, sugar, bananas and palm oil.

Advertisement