Sao Tome Presidential Elections to Enter Run-off PeriodPresidential elections in Sao Tome and Principe will enter the second round in two weeks, with former president Manuel Pinto da Costa and opposition leader Fradique Menezes as the rivals in the run-off, the Sao Tome National Electoral Commission (CNE) announced on Monday Morning.According to reports reaching here on Monday, initial results of the general elections in the archipelago country showed that none of the five candidates gained majority in the first round, thus dragging the contest into the second phase. "I expect there will be a second round between Fradique Menezes and Pinto da Costa," Fernando Maquengo, president of the CNE, was quoted by the Portuguese TV station RTP as saying. It was reported that businessman Fradique Menezes, 59, backed by the outgoing President Miguel Trovoada and the biggest opposition Independent Democratic Action (ADI), and former president Pinto da Costa, 63, supported by the ruling party, were running neck-to-neck in the first round. The edge of the leader is razor-thin. But the number of votes each of them gained has not yet been announced by the electoral commission. Preelection polls showed that Pinto da Costa had been leading in the contest since July 14 when the election campaign started, while Menezes was considered as his main rival. Meanwhile, other candidates, including former health minister Carlos Tiny, current president of the Sao Tome National Assembly Francisco Fortunato Pires, and the army captain in reserve Victor Monteiro, have gained weak ballot support in the first round and are disqualified for the second round. It was reported that in the country's two largest districts of Agua Grande and Mzochi as well as Cantagalo, Menezes is ahead of his rivals, while Pinto da Costa is leading in the district of Lemba and the autonomous region of Principe. Local analysts said that the participation of Pires and Tiny into the elections affected the situation of Pinto da Costa, because Pires, running for presidency as an independent, is also a member of the ruling Liberation Movement for Sao Tome and Principe- Social Democratic Party (MLSTP-PSD). In the second phase of the elections, Pinto da Costa is expected to recover his ground lost in the first round, the analysts said. The elections mark the end of the era of Miguel Trovoada, who came into power in 1991 and has ruled the country for 10 years, the maximum two terms allowed by the country's constitution. Turnout was strong among the 67,374 registered voters and the polling went smoothly without incidents and fraud being reported. All parties in the country have tried their best to win the elections that are considered as one of the most important one since the country's independence in 1975, because recently, explorations showed that there is rich petroleum reserve along the maritime frontiers between Sao Tome and Nigeria. Almost all the people and parties consider that it is a good opportunity for the archipelago state, one of the most underdeveloped countries in the world, to rebuild its economy and international status. Some of them said that if the petroleum industry goes along well, the small country could be one of the richest countries in the world sometime. At this moment, the second smallest country in Africa, only after Seychelles in the Indian Ocean, bases its economy on small- scale cocoa exports, tourism and the international aid. |
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