President Carlos Vila Nova of Sao Tome and Principe has dismissed the government, citing its failure to address pressing national challenges and frequent absences by Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada.
In a decree issued Monday and shared on the presidency’s Facebook page, the president pointed to the government’s “notable inability” to resolve the country’s problems and criticized the prime minister’s “frequent and prolonged absences” from the country.
Both Vila Nova and Trovoada belong to the centre-right Independent Democratic Action (ADI) party, which secured victory in the 2022 parliamentary elections. According to the decree, the ADI has 72 hours to propose a new prime minister.
Sao Tome and Principe, a former Portuguese colony in the Gulf of Guinea that gained independence in 1975, has faced economic hardships and a history of political instability, including coup attempts in 2003, 2009, and most recently in 2022, which the army reportedly thwarted.
The nation has been praised for its parliamentary democracy and political stability in recent years. However, concerns arose in May 2023 when Portugal expressed unease over reports of a military cooperation agreement between Sao Tome and Principe and Russia.
The ADI remains one of the two dominant parties in the multiparty system established in 1991, following 15 years of single-party Marxist rule. The dismissal marks a significant shift in the political dynamics of the archipelago nation, home to around 200,000 people.
