Manuel Pinto da Costa (born 5 August 1937) is a Santomean economist and politician who served as the first

president of São Tomé and Príncipe President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsidente ...

from 1975 to 1991. He again served as president from 2011 to 2016.

Life and career

Educated in

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

, he is fluent in

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

. Until the early 1990s the MLSTP maintained extensive relations with

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

and the

MPLA The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (, abbr. MPLA), from 1977–1990 called the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola – Labour Party (), is an Angolan social democratic political party. The MPLA fought against the P ...

, with Pinto da Costa himself having enjoyed a friendly relationship with

José Eduardo dos Santos José Eduardo Van-Dúnem dos Santos (; 28 August 1942 – 8 July 2022) was an Angolan politician and military officer who served as the second president of Angola from 1979 to 2017. As president, dos Santos was also the commander-in-chief of th ...

, the President of Angola, extending back to when they were both young men. In 1991, the

legalisation Legalization is the process of removing a legal prohibition against something which is currently not legal. Legalization is a process often applied to what are regarded, by those working towards legalization, as victimless crimes, of which one ...

of opposition political parties led to the country's first

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

under a democratic system. Pinto da Costa did not contest the election and instead announced he would retire from politics. The MLSTP did not present an alternative candidate and

Miguel Trovoada Miguel dos Anjos da Cunha Lisboa Trovoada (born 27 December 1936) is a São Toméan politician who was the Heads of Government of São Tomé and Príncipe, prime minister from 1975 to 1979 and second president of São Tomé and Príncipe from 1 ...

was elected unopposed. Despite his previous declaration, Pinto da Costa returned to contest elections in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, but was narrowly defeated, taking 47.26% of the vote, by Trovoada. In

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, he ran against incumbent president

Fradique de Menezes Fradique Bandeira Melo de Menezes (born 21 March 1942) is a São Toméan politician who was the third president of São Tomé and Príncipe from 2001 to 2003 and again from 2003 to 2011. Early life Menezes was born on the then Portuguese colony ...

, who won a majority in the first round. Pinto da Costa was elected leader of the MLSTP in May 1998. He resigned from the party in February 2005 and

Guilherme Posser da Costa Guilherme Posser da Costa (born 18 May 1953) is a São Toméan who served as the ninth prime minister of São Tomé and Príncipe from 1999 to 2001. Posser da Costa served as Minister of Foreign Affairs: 1987–1988, 1990–1991, and 1994–1996 ...

was elected to succeed him. In the July 2011 presidential election, he ran as an independent. He won the most votes in the first round but failed to receive the required majority. In a run-off round on 7 August, he defeated rival

Evaristo Carvalho Evaristo do Espírito Santo Carvalho (22 October 1941 – 28 May 2022) was a São Toméan politician who served as the fourth president of São Tomé and Príncipe from 2016 to 2021. He was previously the prime minister of the country on two ...

from the

Independent Democratic Action The Independent Democratic Action () is a political party in São Tomé and Príncipe. It was established in 1994 by the then president Miguel Trovoada and is a politically centrist party. It took part in the 29 July 2001 presidential election ...

party (, ADI), taking 53% of the votes. During the campaign, he focused on the need for political stability and promised to tackle widespread corruption. His bid was given the backing of most of the other major candidates, including former Prime Minister

Maria das Neves Maria das Neves Ceita Baptista de Sousa (born 11 July 1958) is a São Toméan politician and economist who served as prime minister of São Tomé and Príncipe from 2002 to 2004. Appointed as a member of MLSTP–PSD, she was the first woman to ...

, who claimed "Pinto da Costa's plan could bring more hope to our country". Some analysts, however, raised concerns that the former president's victory might trigger a return to the authoritarian rule seen during his previous period in power. He took office on 3 September 2011. In 2016 election he qualified for the second round, but then boycotted the second round, so he stepped down and the opposition won.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Costa, Manuel Pinto da 1937 births People from Água Grande District Heads of state of São Tomé and Príncipe Defence ministers of São Tomé and Príncipe Living people Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe/Social Democratic Party politicians São Tomé and Príncipe economists 20th-century São Tomé and Príncipe politicians 21st-century São Tomé and Príncipe politicians