Members ask the Constitutional to cancel the appointment of the PM Santomense

UmLSTP MPs, winner of the Santomese parliamentary elections, today asked the Constitutional Court to cancel the appointment of the leader of the second most voted party, Américo Ramos, as Prime Minister.

Members of the Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe (MLSTP) requested the supervision of constitutionality and annulment of the presidential decree that appointed the leader of the Independent Democratic Action (ADI), Américo Ramos, as Prime Minister, to the detriment of the leader of the MLSTP, who won the September elections.

The spokesman for the applicants, Cílcio dos Santos, based that the constitutional rule on the subject that says that “the Prime Minister is appointed by the President of the Republic”, after listening to political parties with parliamentary representation “and taking into account the election results”.

The deputy and former Minister of Justice, said that the President of the Republic did not observe this rule and “used parliamentary sustainability as the fundamental motive”, which asked for it to be presented in writing.

“ At no time does the constitutional text mention these aspects.(.) We, the MLSTP, will continue to work towards democratic justice. We cannot repeatedly violate the norms in São Tomé,” Cílcio dos Santos said.

The deputy of the MLSTP admitted that the presidential decree “is a political decision”, but stressed that “all acts that violate the Constitution of the Republic are subject to revocation” and that “no one is above the law.”.

On Thursday, President Santomense, Carlos Vila Nova, appointed Prime Minister Américo Ramos, leader of the ADI, second most voted party, after receiving guarantee of government stability, announced the Presidency.

The appointment of Américo Ramos “comes after the presentation of a guarantee, given in writing to the Head of State, of the existence of sufficient parliamentary support to ensure the stability of government action, a guarantee that the MLSTP, first convened by the President of the Republic, could not present,” he said.

The Presidency of the Republic did not reveal the guarantee of sustainability presented by the IDA, but, hours earlier, the party presidents and coalition Independent Citizens Movement/Socialist Party/National Unity Party (MCI-PS/PUN), Domingos Monteiro, reaffirmed the parliamentary sustainability agreement.

Hours earlier, the president of the MLSTP, winner of legislative in São Tomé and Príncipe, urged the President to reject a Government of the ADI, supported by the MCI/PUN.

“I mean that right after the elections, I was contacted by more than five emissaries with clear and unambiguous messages that any agreement that any party would establish with the MCI/PUN party would be vetoed for constituting the red line. This information was also confirmed to me” by the President of the Republic, MLSTP President Américo Barros said today.

Américo Barros said that the party presented its name for the position of Prime Minister and the elements that justify “the parliamentary sustainability that the President of the Republic required”, substantiating itself in the election results, in which the MLSTP secured 24 mandates, adding two Members of the Just Movement and “four other Members who expressed and guaranteed, under reservation, parliamentary support to the MLSTP”.

The MLSTP was the winner of the 27 September parliamentary elections with 24 deputies.

However, after the elections, the IDA, which elected 23 of the 55 Members, signed a parliamentary agreement with the third most voted force, the coalition Independent Citizens' Movement/Socialist Party/National Unity Party (MCI-PS/PUN), with six Members, forming an absolute majority of 29 Members.

Américo Ramos has been Prime Minister since January 2025, chosen by the President against the decision of the then leader of the ADI, Patrice Trovoada, dismissed by the Head of State for institutional disloyalty.