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Registered | 92,689 | ||||||||||||||||
Turnout | 74.0% | ||||||||||||||||
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Fradique de Menezes
Force for Change Democratic Movement – Liberal Party
Manuel Pinto da Costa
Independent
A presidential election was held in São Tomé and Príncipe in 2011, the first round beginning on 17 July 2011 with a run-off held on 7 August 2011. Incumbent President Fradique de Menezes has served the maximum two terms and could not constitutionally seek a third term. The final result saw former president Manuel Pinto da Costa, aged 74, elected in a narrow victory against Speaker of Parliament Evaristo Carvalho.
The first round was contested by approximately 120 candidates. The candidate from President de Menezes' party, Force for Change Democratic Movement–Liberal Party (Portuguese: Movimento Democrático das Forças de Mudança–Partido Liberal, MDFM–PL), was Delfim Neves, who jointly represented the MDFM–PL and his own Democratic Convergence Party (Portuguese: Partido de Convergencia Democratica, PCD–GR). Pinto da Costa, who ran independently, won the most votes but failed to receive the majority required to claim an outright victory. Carvalho, of the ruling party Independent Democratic Action (Portuguese: Acção Democratica Independente, ADI), a former prime minister and the incumbent Speaker of the National Assembly, placed second. A run-off to be contested between Pinto da Costa and Carvalho was announced on the same day. Pinto da Costa received the backing of the majority of eliminated candidates, and he was expected to win comfortably.