Supreme Court confirms election results

Sao Tome and Principe's Supreme Court declared on Tuesday, the final results of the 3 March legislative elections. No party got an absolute majority but the Sao Tome and Principe Liberation Movement (MLSTP) won the poll with 39.6 percent of the votes cast, obtaining 24 seats in the 55 member assembly, the court said. The declaration opened the way for the formation of a new government, the Portuguese news agency, Lusa, reported. The MLSTP had agreed to form a coalition government with two other political groups, the Democratic Movement Force for Change/Party of Democratic Governance (MDFM/PCD) whose coalition won 23 seats ( 39.4 percent), and the Ue-Kedadji coalition that won eight seats (16.2 percent), the agency added. The coalition had already begun negotiations with President Fradique de Menezes, a behind-the-scene patron of the MDFM/PCD, to select a prime minister from the MLSTP, Lusa reported. Humanitarian sources told IRIN the elections were "well organised inspite of allegations that candidates offered money to influence voters". A statement from a team on international observer described them as "free and fair". Menezes called elections after disagreeing with the prime minister, Gilherme Posser da Costa of the MLSTP, on the composition of a new cabinet and bypassing parliament to form a government of "presidential initiative" on 26 September 2001. The MLSTP protested and walked out of parliament. Sao Tome and Principe is an Atlantic Ocean archipelago of 150,000 people just off the West African coast of Gabon.