Sao Tome and Principe

National Assembly

Political system
Presidential-Parliamentary
Structure of parliament
Unicameral
IPU membership
Yes

Data on women

Information on the current and historical representation of women in the parliament. Consult the 'Elections' tab to see how women have fared in elections or renewals.

Current representation

Women's representation in the current parliament or chamber

Current number of members
55
Women
8
Percentage of women
14.5%

Speaker

Speaker
Celmira Sacramento (Female)
Date of birth: 17 Apr 1975
Additional information

Elected on 8 Nov. 2022.

Secretary general

No information available

Chairs of specialized bodies

Specialized body Theme Name Sex Age
Permanent Specialized Commission on Citizenship, Diaspora and Human Rights Human rights Filomena Monteiro Female 61
Foreign Affairs Committee Foreign affairs Filomena Monteiro Female 61

Data on age at the start of the legislature

Number of members, by age (2022-11)
Breakdown of members by age and gender
18 - 20 21 - 30 31 - 40 41 - 45 46 - 50 51 - 60 61 - 70 71 - 80 81 - 90 91 and over Totals per gender
Male 0 1 9 7 10 16 4 0 0 0 47
Female 0 0 3 1 1 3 0 0 0 0 8
Totals per age interval 0 1 12 8 11 19 4 0 0 0 55
Total <= 45: 21 Total >= 46: 34
Percentage of members, by age
Age at the last election or renewal Overall Male Female
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger
1.8% 1.8% 0.0%
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger
23.6% 18% 5.5%
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger
38.2% 31% 7.3%

Reserved seats and quotas

There are reserved seats in parliament for certain groups
No
Electoral quota for women
Yes

Notes:

The 2022 Equality Law (Lei No. 11/2022)* aims to ensure a minimum representation of 40% of each gender for elective bodies, such as the National Assembly, and Regional Legislative Assembly.

The first two places on lists of candidates must be occupied by candidates of different genders. The rest of a list may not include more than two candidates of the same gender consecutively. Lists which fail to comply with these requirements may be rejected by the court.

Sources:

Article 4, clauses 1 and 2, article 5, and article 6 of the Law on Parity (Lei No. 11/2022)

* The Law was adopted by the National Assembly on 28 July 2022, enacted by the President of the Republic on 14 September 2022, and entered into force 60 days after publication in the official journal (Diário da República) dated 19 September 2022.

First woman in parliament

Year of first woman in parliament
1975

First woman speaker

Year of first woman speaker
1980

Women’s suffrage

Date of independence
1975
Women’s right to vote
1975
Restricted or universal suffrage
Universal
Women's right to stand for election
1975
Restricted or universal
No information available

Women's caucus

Women's caucuses or parliamentary groups that bring together women parliamentarians to strengthen cooperation and amplify their voices. For other parliamentary bodies or committees that have a specific mandate to address gender equality matters, see the ‘Specialized body – Gender equality’ tab.

Historical data for IPU membership

Historical data for IPU membership
Year IPU membership
2020-09
List of values for 2020-09
No
2019-04
List of values for 2019-04
No
2018-06
List of values for 2018-06
No