Former Minister elected President of the Santomese Parliament unanimously

A former Minister of the Environment, Youth and Sustainable Tourism of São Tomé and Príncipe, was today elected president of parliament unanimously, becoming the second woman to take office in the multiparty system in the archipelago.

The election of former Santomese minister who left office last week to take over the deputation was proposed by the Independent Democratic Action (ADI) of the Prime Minister, Américo Ramos, has as vice president the Secretary-General of the ADI, Vasth Santos.

This is the first time that the Santomese Members have elected two women to chair the National Assembly table at the beginning of a legislative, also historic, for which 19 women were elected for the first time.

Members of the IDA were the only candidates for these positions, with the Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe (MLSTP), which won the elections with 24 Members, withdrawn the candidates on Monday, with promise to explain the reasons today.

The IDA was the second most voted party in the legislative elections of 27 September, and elected 23 of the 55 deputies, but after the official disclosure of the results 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 deputies, forming an absolute majority of 29 deputies.

Nilda da Mata is 50 years old and a professional path marked by the passage by different state institutions, with experience in the areas of international relations, public administration, parliament, human rights, social policies and environment.

She holds a degree in International Relations from Fernando Pessoa University, Porto, Portugal, and holds a Master 1 degree in Political Sciences, specializing in Public Policy Assessment, from the University of Picardie Jules Verne, in Amiens, France.

In 2024, he took office as Minister of the Environment, in 2025 he also accumulated the portfolios of Youth and Sustainable Tourism until 4 November this year.

Before joining the Government, between 2022 and 2023, she served as coordinator of the Office for Support to the National Order of the European Development Fund.

Between September 2016 and December 2020, she was an advisor to the Social, Cultural and Environment areas of the President of the Republic, also representing the Presidency, the National Committee for Climate Change, and was also the cabinet director of the Minister (2023 to 2014), and later advisor for Human Rights and International Policy of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights from 2015 to 2016.

At the National Assembly, Nilda da Mata worked at the Office of Public and International Relations in 2003, she was a consultant for project management in the area of international relations and protocol between 2004 and 2006 and between 2007 and 2008, took over the coordination of the Office of Public and International Relations of the National Assembly.

Nilda da Mata is the third woman to serve as president of the National Assembly of São Tomé and Príncipe, after Celmira Sacramento, elected in 2022, but destitute in 2025, and Alda do Espírito Santo, who served in the first years after the independence of the African archipelago.

In the coming days, the President of the Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe will appoint the Prime Minister and members of the next Government, following the results of the 27 September elections.