Sao Tome 1990
In October 1987, the Central Committee of the Movement for the Liberation of Sao Tome and Principe (MLSTP) announced its intention to introduce direct and secret election of the legislature and president. In December 1987, the Central Committee nominated an internal committee to begin considering possible amendments. Over the next year, other reforms were also announced: recognition of candidates nominated by different factions within the party, the opening of party membership to a wider section of society, and plans for a National Conference to be held December 5-7, 1989.
The National Conference included a large number of party delegates, including a reformist faction within the Central Committee, and also representatives of independent professions and the nascent opposition. The reformist faction held many leadership positions at the Conference and dominated the process of drafting the Conference’s recommendations. The National Conference delegates and the reformists succeeded in overcoming the orthodox members of the Central Committee’s preferences for a multi-faction one-party system, and they called for a true multi-party system in the Conference’s concluding recommendations. This decision was subsequently ratified by the full Central Committee on December 12, 1989, and drafting proceeded using the new guidelines.
The draft document was submitted to the 40-member People’s National Assembly on March 15, 1990. On March 26, 1990, a joint session of the Central Committee and the Assembly voted unanimously to approve the document, a two-thirds majority of the Assembly being needed to ratify the document. Under conditions of dubious legality and following legislative ratification, then-president Manuel Pinto da Costa added an article allowing himself to retain the presidency until elections were held. A widely-anticipated referendum was announced on July 8, 1990, and held August 22, 1990, to allow popular ratification of the document. The referendum passed with 71.9% of the popular vote, with about 80% turnout.