Nilda da Mata elected president of Sao Tome and Principe's National Assembly
The former environment minister won all 55 votes in the parliament's first session of the thirteenth legislature.
Nilda da Mata, a deputy from the ADI party and a former minister of environment, youth and sustainable tourism, was elected president of the National Assembly on November 10 with the votes of all 55 deputies. She was nominated by her party's parliamentary group in the first session of the legislature, which followed the September 27 legislative elections.
She is the second woman to preside over the parliament. Da Mata holds a degree in international relations and previously worked as an adviser to the President of the Republic. Deputies then elected ADI deputy Vasth Santos as vice-president and filled the rest of the parliamentary board.
The newly elected deputies were sworn in at a ceremony presided over by President Carlos Vila Nova. The MLSTP won the most seats with 24, ADI took 23, the MCI-PS/PUN coalition won six and the Basta movement won two. The president has invited MLSTP to propose a candidate for prime minister, and that name has not yet been confirmed.
Why it mattersADI and MCI-PUN, which signed a parliamentary agreement giving them 29 seats, now control the assembly's leadership, while MLSTP must still name a prime minister candidate.