Sao Tome and Principe Votes in Tense Presidential Election

Voters in São Tomé and Príncipe go to the polls on Sunday in a presidential election that will test one of Africa's most consistent democratic records against a period of unusual political strain.

About 142,000 people are registered to vote in the tiny island state, according to the National Election Commission, roughly 15% of whom live in the diaspora.

Since gaining independence from Portugal in 1975, the country off Africa's west coast has built a solid reputation for peaceful, competitive elections. This year's vote, however, comes amid a tense political atmosphere and a lingering constitutional crisis.

President Carlos Vila Nova is seeking a second term as an independent rather than as the candidate of the ruling Acção Democrática Independente, which he represented when elected in 2021. His break with the party began in January last year when he dismissed the prime minister, Patrice Trovoada. Trovoada's replacement, former justice minister Ilza Amado Vaz, resigned after just three days, before the current holder, Américo Ramos, took office.

The resulting alignments have scrambled the usual party lines. Vila Nova faces four other candidates, including ADI parliamentary leader Nito D'Abreu. The main opposition party, the Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe, is now part of a broad coalition backing the incumbent despite being staunch ADI opponents — while an ADI faction led by Ramos is backing D'Abreu. Another former prime minister, Jorge Bom Jesus, attempted to withdraw his independent candidacy but missed the deadline and remains on the ballot. If no candidate wins more than 50%, the election goes to a second round.

The constitutional dispute centres on a disqualification. Businessman Domingos Monteiro, known as "Nino", president of the São Toméan Football Federation since 2015, was ruled ineligible by the constitutional court. Monteiro was born on the island, but his parents never became naturalised citizens after moving from Cape Verde.

"The constitutional court is violating the principle of equal rights," Monteiro said. "It is time for descendants born in São Tomé and Príncipe to say no to discrimination, to the culture of xenophobia and persecution."

For voters, the campaign's substance lies elsewhere. Priorities include government corruption, high inflation, severe youth unemployment, chronic fuel shortages and frequent blackouts — the last two acutely felt in a small island economy dependent on imported energy. Vila Nova's rivals are betting that this record of daily disruption will outweigh his incumbency and keep him from a second term.

Reported from the Guardian.