Cape Town — The candidate of the only opposition party in Sao Tome and Principe Carlos Vila Nova won Sunday's presidential election with 57.54% of the votes cast, against 42.46% for his opponent, Guilherme Posser da Costa. Outgoing president Evaristo Carvalho, 79, did not seek a second term.

The provisional results were released by the National Electoral Commission 24 hours after the poll. It is yet to be validated by the Constitutional Court.

Thanking the voters who put their trust in him, Vila Nova said: "I won these elections in a clear way."

The first round elections took place in July, with 19 candidates in total.

A former minister, the newly elected president stressed that the socio-economic and political situation of the country is bad and that "we must now think about the future".

"We must give another direction to São Tomé and Príncipe," said Vila Nova, while specifying that his first task will be "to fight against the exclusion and the social division in the country".

In this archipelago, as in Cape Verde, the president plays an essentially ceremonial role. The vast majority of executive powers are concentrated in the hands of the prime minister from the majority in Parliament.

Translated from VOA French by Michael Tantoh