Voting starts in Sao Tome presidential poll

SAO TOME (AFP) - Voting to pick the next president of Sao Tome and Principe began on Sunday, where ten candidates are vying to lead the tiny, impoverished west African archipelago, plagued by chronic instability.

Favourite to win is former strongman Manuel Pinto da Costa who took power after playing a leading role to gain independence from Portugal in 1975 ruling a communist one-party state that lasted until 1990.

Voting was scheduled to start at 0700 (local and GMT), but an AFP correspondent said the process was delayed 30 minutes in at least one polling station.

"I am convinced that this Sunday, I will have a clear victory," with a first-round win, Pinto da Costa told supporters at his final rally on Friday.

Since the introduction of a multi-party system Pinto da Costa has twice failed to get elected.

Another leading contender is 70-year-old Evaristo de Carvalho, who has served twice as prime minister and is currently the president of the national assembly.

Pinto da Costa's critics charge him with having presided over an oppressive dictatorship, but his campaign pledge to root out corruption seems to have engaged voters.

Voters are anxious for stability in a country that has seen 18 different prime ministers since the end of the one-party system in 1990.

And with 54 percent of the country's 200,000 people described as poor by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), many are impatient for the country to start exploiting its oil resources.

Other candidates on the ballot include former journalist turned successful businessman Aurelio Martins.

He is the official candidate of the Movement for the Liberation of Sao Tome and Principe/Social Democratic Party which Pinto da Costa co-founded, and he too has pledged to fight corruption.

Former prime minister Maria das Neves and the country's first female defence minister, Elsa Pinto, are also in the running, both as independent candidates.

Sao Tome and Principe, located near the Equator northwest of Gabon, is one of the world's poorest countries: foreign aid makes up about 80 percent of its budget.

More than a hundred election observers, from the African Union, the Economic Community of Central African States and Portuguese-speaking countries will monitor the vote.

A total of 92,000 voters have registered to decide who replaces current president Fradique de Menezes, who is not eligible to run again after having completed his second five-year term.

Voting closes at 6:00 pm, with the first results expected later Sunday. If no candidate wins an absolute majority, the election will go to a second round on July 24.