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São Tomé e Principe - Government

The constitution adopted in November 1975 vested absolute authority in the President and the Polit Bureau of the MSLTP. Radical socialist policies were introduced, all land and property was nationalised, and the economy was run on central planning doctrine. These hardline policies soon produced splits in the Party forcing a number of moderate politicians into exile. Two alleged coup attempts in 1978 and 1980, involving exiles, further underlined the ideological and personal divisions within the ruling party. In the late 1980s, the MLSTP changed direction, initiating a series of economic reforms together with liberalisation within the Party itself. This paved the way for the return of the exiles. But there were further coup attempts in 1995 and July 2003, the latter over disagreements concerning the government’s handling of oil exploration licensing.

The one-party system which had prevailed since independence was abandoned in 1990 when a new constitution (amended later in 2003) providing for multipartyism was adopted following a referendum. The new constitution also introduced a limit of two terms of five years on the tenure of the President. It provided for a 55-member National Assembly together with regional assemblies. The vanguard role of the old single party, the MLSTP, was dropped accordingly.

São Tomé and Príncipe is one of the very few African states with a semi-presidential system. Following the promulgation of a new constitution in 1990, Sao Tome and Principe held multiparty elections for the first time since independence. Shortly after the constitution took effect, the National Assembly formally legalized opposition parties. Independent candidates also were permitted to participate. The 55-member National Assembly is the supreme organ of the state and the highest legislative body. Its members are elected for a 4-year term and meet semiannually.

The president of the republic is elected to a 5-year term through direct universal suffrage and a secret ballot and may hold office up to two consecutive terms. Candidates are chosen at their party's national conference or individuals may run independently. A presidential candidate must obtain an outright majority of the popular vote in either a first or second round of voting in order to be elected president. In 2003 the National Assembly adopted a constitutional revision to reduce the powers of the president in favour of those of parliament. Under the amendments that came into effect in 2006, the president can only dismiss the prime minister under particular circumstances and only after having consulted a newly created State Council. The ADI government elcted in 2014 would be the first one since 1991 to reach the end of the four-year term, since thanks to the constitutional revision the president was no longer able to get rid of it.

The party that wins a majority in the legislature names the prime minister, who must be approved by the president. The prime minister, in turn, names the members of the cabinet. Compared to other central African legislatures, the democratically-elected National Assembly in Sao Tome plays an unusually strong role in the country's political life. Unlike in neighboring countries with a strong Presidency, the Assembly (and the government appointed by its majority) plays the dominant role in adopting legislation and budgets. If no party holds a majority, forging consensus in the Assembly is difficult, sometimes interferes with legislation and has destabilized governments. The resulting stalemate is an ongoing source of frustration for the general population, as are the sparks that that fly almost daily from friction between the assembly and the Presidency.

All 55 seats in the National Assembly are open. The seats are allocated to six different districts in Sao Tome, and a seventh in Principe Island, although the parties are not obliged to run in each district. Actual residence in a district is not a prerequisite for candidacy, a cause of some friction with voters as most candidates on party lists are middle and upper-class elites from the capital district of Agua Grande. Parties win seats based on getting a percentage in each district, making votes in districts like Caue (642 votes needed for a seat) more valuable than Agua Grande (2464 votes per seat). Parties may form coalitions and add their vote totals together (even after the election) to claim seats.

The Supreme Court administers justice at the highest level. The judiciary is independent under the current constitution. Supreme Court or Supremo Tribunal Justica consists of 5 judges; Constitutional Court or Tribunal Constitucional consists of 5 judges, 3 of whom are from the Supreme Court. Supreme Court judges are appointed by the National Assembly. Constitutional Court judges are nominated by the president of the republic and elected by the National Assembly for 5-year terms. Subordinate courts include the Court of First Instance and Audit Court.

Administratively, the country is divided into six municipal districts, five on Sao Tome and one comprising Principe. Governing councils in each district maintain a limited number of autonomous decision-making powers and are reelected every 3 years. . In 1994, the National Assembly granted political and administrative autonomy to the island of Principe. It has a Regional Assembly which is accountable to São Tomé.