1994 São Toméan legislative election

Parliamentary elections were held in São Tomé and Príncipe on 2 October 1994. The result was a victory for the opposition Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe - Social Democratic Party, which won 27 of the 55 seats in the National Assembly. Voter turnout was only 52.1%.[1]

Background

In early 1994 relations between the government and the presidency again began to deteriorate. In April Trovoada publicly dissociated himself from government policy. In June political tension increased when the PCD-GR accused Trovoada of systematic obstruction of the government's programme. The same month opposition parties petitioned the president to dismiss the government and to appoint foreign auditors to investigate the management of public funds under its term of office.

On 2 July 1994 Trovoada dismissed the government of Prime Minister Norberto d'Alva Costa Alegre citing 'institutional conflict' as the justification for the decision. Moreover, the president accused the ruling party of ignoring presidential vetoes and of attempting to replace the semi-presidential system with a parliamentary regime without executive powers for the head of state. On 4 July Trovoada appointed Evaristo do Espirito Santo de Carvalho (the minister of defence and security in the outgoing administration) as prime minister. The PCD-GR, which refused to participate in the new government, subsequently expelled Carvalho from the party. An interim administration, comprising eight ministers, took office on 9 July. On the following day, in an attempt to resolve the political crisis, Trovoada dissolved the national assembly and announced that a legislative election would be held on 2 October.

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	MLSTP/PSD	10,782	42.53	27	+6
	Independent Democratic Action	6,660	26.27	14	New
	Democratic Convergence Party	6,235	24.59	14	–19
	Opposition Democratic Coalition	1,152	4.54	0	–1
	People's Alliance	342	1.35	0	New
	Christian Democratic Front	181	0.71	0	0
Total		25,352	100.00	55	0
Valid votes		25,352	87.12
Invalid/blank votes		3,748	12.88
Total votes		29,100	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		55,862	52.09
Source: Nohlen et al.

References

1. Dieter Nohlen, Michael Krennerich & Bernhard Thibaut (1999) Elections in Africa: A data handbook, p746 ISBN 0-19-829645-2