There is an interesting situation in São Tomé e Príncipe.

The 2010 legislative election left the ADI party in power with 26 of 52 seats in the legislature. It usually has the support of the sole MDFM-PL deputy, leaving it one short of a majority.

The change is that a deputy, Amândio Pinheiro, from the opposition PCD party, which had 7 seats, has changed his affiliation to an independent. The logic of the move is that if he votes with the government, then it has the support of 28 deputies, or an absolute majority.

However, the deputy’s right to change affiliation is being challenged. Téla Nón is reporting that in the previous legislature, four deputies from the ADI made the same move, provoking a change in the legislature’s standing orders to the effect that such moves were no longer possible.

As a result, the PCD is acting on the basis that Pinheiro is no longer a deputy and has appointed a substitute to replace him. So, currently, there are 56 deputies!

The pro-government Speaker of the Assembly has ruled in the government’s favour. However, the situation is creating an institutional crisis because the stakes are very high. Watch this space.