Court to rule who won Sao Tome
2002-03-11 15:03
Sao tome - The Supreme Court is expected to announce later this week which
party won the country's general election after the governing party
elected a majority of lawmakers but the main opposition party
collected most votes.
While the parties disputed who won the March 4 ballot, President
Fradique de Menezes was trying to defuse the crisis by consulting
with political leaders on sharing power in a broad-based
government.
The Supreme Court on Monday began reviewing the vote counts
after one district, which had boycotted the election, repeated its
ballot on Sunday.
The National Electoral Commission said late on Sunday the Movement
for the Liberation of Sao Tome and Principe, or MLSTP, collected 24
seats in the 55-seat Parliament.
However, the Force for Change Democratic Movement garnered 38.42% of the vote, electing 23 lawmakers, compared with 38.30%
for the MLSTP.
The country uses a system of proportional representation,
calculating results in accordance with the d'Hondt formula which
determines the allocation of parliamentary seats.
But who won?
Both parties claimed victory.
The MLSTP said the party with most seats should form a
government, while its main opponent insisted the party with most
votes should be declared winner. A final decision rests with the
Supreme Court.
Meanwhile the head of state, who is close to the Force for
Change Democratic Movement, opened talks at the weekend with MLSTP
leader Manuel Pinto da Costa on the possibility of forming a
government with members of both parties.
The early election was called after Menezes dismissed the MLSTP
government in September when he failed to reach agreement with the
prime minister on appointments to the Cabinet.
The political uncertainty stalled efforts to develop the
impoverished West African nation's oil resources.
Sao Tome and Principe, which has a population of roughly
160 000, lies in the Gulf of Guinea, about 240km off the African coast in one of the African continent's most active oil exploration areas.
The country remains one of the world's poorest countries.
- Sapa-AP
- SAPA