Voters in Sao Tome and Principe choose new president

São Tomé (AFP) - People in the small African islands state of Sao Tome and Principe voted Sunday for a new president, with an elderly incumbent facing four challengers.

Around 110,000 citizens of the twin archipelagos located 300 kilometres (190 miles) off the coast of Gabon were eligible to take part in the election.

Manuel Pinto da Costa, 78, is hoping to see off Evaristo Carvalho, of the governing Independent Democratic Action (ADI) party and three other candidates to win another five-year mandate.

A trained economist, Pinto da Costa served as the country's first president after independence from Portugal in 1975, at the height of the Cold War.

He threw in his lot with the Soviet bloc, building a centralised Marxist-Leninist single party regime, whose intolerance of opposition sent many dissidents into exile.

The policies devastated the economy of what had been, at the start of the 20th century, the world's leading cocoa producer. Eighty percent of its budget now comes from foreign aid.

In the capital, campaigning has been lively, with candidates' posters stuck to walls and trees across the city, and slogans blaring from loudspeakers mounted on trucks.

"Pinto da Costa has proved himself," said Francisco, a guard in the Obo National Park, in the centre of the country's main island.

"He is old, but he has experience. He won't 'eat' (steal) too much, and we know he is capable of leading the country," he added.

Executive power in Sao Tome and Principe is shared between the president and the prime minister.

"He's had his time, it's time he gave up his post," countered Nelito, who runs a restaurant in the southeastern coastal town of Sao Joao de los Angolares.

Three other candidates are in the running including a teacher who says he has been "chosen by God."

The African Union team sent to monitor the polls said the vote had taken place "in all calmness", according to the mission's chief and former Mozambican president Armando Guebuza.

If no candidate wins more than 50 percent of votes cast Sunday, a second round will be held.