Several women included in new government

The new coalition government in Sao Tome and Principe that was sworn into office on Monday includes five women out of 11 cabinet ministers and two secretaries of state, sources reported. President Fradique de Menezes appointed Gabriel Costa, an independent politician who has been ambassador to Portugal, as prime minister. All three groups that won seats in the 55-member legislature in the 3 March elections are represented, the Portuguese news agency, Lusa, reported. Monday's cabinet is the ninth since multiparty democracy was introduced in 1991. Menezes called for unity at the swearing in while the new prime minister announced he wished to re-start talks with the International Monetary Fund and World Bank over the HIPC program for highly-indebted countries, Lusa said. The government is made up of the Sao Tome and Principe Liberation Movement (MLSTP) which obtained 24 seats, the Democratic Movement Force for Change/Party of Democratic Governance (MDFM/PCD) which won 23 seats, and the Ue-Kedadji coalition that won eight seats. Menezes called elections after disagreeing with then 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.