Voters across São Tomé and Príncipe are casting ballots on Sunday in a presidential election that has scrambled the country's political alliances and exposed deep tensions within its ruling party. Incumbent president Carlos Vila Nova is running for a second term, but this time as an independent candidate rather than under the banner of the Acção Democrática Independente (ADI), the party that carried him to victory in 2021.
The National Election Commission reports that roughly 142,000 citizens are registered to vote in the island nation, with about 15% of them living abroad in the diaspora. For a country of just over 200,000 people, every vote carries weight, and turnout will likely determine whether the race is settled in one round or heads to a runoff.
A President at War With His Own Party
The rift between Vila Nova and the ADI exploded into public view in January 2025 when the president dismissed prime minister Patrice Trovoada. The move set off a chaotic chain reaction: Trovoada's successor, former justice minister Ilza Amado Vaz, lasted only three days before resigning, clearing the way for Américo Ramos to take the post.
That split now defines the ballot. Vila Nova is running against four other candidates, including Nito D'Abreu, the ADI's parliamentary leader, who has the backing of a faction led by Ramos. Vila Nova, meanwhile, has managed to pull off a remarkable political reversal, securing the support of the Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe, the main opposition party that has historically been a fierce ADI rival. The coalition backing the president also includes other smaller parties, creating an alliance that would have been unthinkable just two years ago.
Disqualification and Diaspora Debates
The election was not without pre-vote controversy. Domingos Monteiro, a businessman better known as "Nino" and president of the São Toméan Football Federation since 2015, was disqualified by the constitutional court. The court ruled that Monteiro, though born on the islands, was ineligible because his parents, originally from Cape Verde, never obtained naturalized citizenship.
Monteiro did not go quietly. He accused the court of discrimination and xenophobia, arguing that native-born descendants were being denied equal rights. The case has touched a nerve in a country where migration and identity run deep in the national fabric.
What Voters Actually Care About
Behind the political maneuvering, ordinary citizens are focused on a grinding set of daily problems. Corruption tops the list for many voters, with D'Abreu calling it "the greatest catastrophe the country has experienced in this half-century of independence" at a campaign event on Tuesday. But the grievances extend further: high inflation, severe youth unemployment, chronic fuel shortages, and frequent power blackouts have eroded patience with whoever holds office.
São Tomé and Príncipe's economy relies heavily on offshore oil deposits and agricultural exports like cocoa, but the benefits have not reached many households. The islands sit in the Gulf of Guinea, a region plagued by maritime piracy, and the country has positioned itself as a reliable western partner on security and trade. That strategic role has drawn observer missions from the European Union, the G7+, and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries to monitor the vote, a sign that international partners are watching closely for any signs of instability.
What Happens Next
If no candidate secures more than 50% of the vote, the election will advance to a second round, prolonging an already volatile contest. Former prime minister Jorge Bom Jesus, who attempted to withdraw his independent candidacy but missed the deadline, remains on the ballot as a potential spoiler.
For Vila Nova, the path to victory depends on whether his unlikely coalition can hold together and whether voters credit him for any progress during his first term. For D'Abreu and the ADI, the challenge is convincing the electorate that returning the party to the presidency will deliver better results than the chaos of the past 18 months. The first official results are expected within days, and a runoff, if needed, would follow within weeks.