Sao Tome election goes to second round after court ruling

A Sao Tome and Principe court on Sunday ruled that the island nation ‘s presidential election will go to a second round between incumbent Manuel Pinto da Costa and ex-speaker of parliament Evaristo Carvalho.

In the provisional results from elections held last Sunday, Carvalho looked to have won with 50.1 percent of votes, and De Costa coming second with 24.8 percent.

But the supreme court overturned the result, saying the electoral commission should have waited for results from Maria Louise , a town that voted on Wednesday and results from the diaspora.

The run-off is scheduled to take place on August 7.

The small Island nation located in the Gulf of Guinea is a former colony of Portugal and has a semi-presidential system.

The prime minister controls the government while the president act as a figure head with considerable executive power over issues such as security.

Sao Tome and Principe has 19 oil blocks in its exclusive economic zone and an additional joint exploration zone with Nigeria.