Guilherme Posser da Costa

Guilherme Posser da Costa (born May 18, 1953 ) is a politician and former chairman of the Movimento de Libertação de São Tomé e Príncipe (MLSTP-PSD) and former Prime Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe .

Political career

He studied law at the University of Coimbra in Portugal . In 1976 he joined the then unity party MLSTP.

In 1979 he worked for the São Tomés e Príncipes Ministry of Justice and in 1981 became a Supreme Court judge. Between 1982 and 1996 he held various functions in the Foreign Ministry: 1986/1987 was Ambassador to the European Community , the FAO and responsible for France , Belgium , the Netherlands , Sweden , Italy and the Federal Republic of Germany . In 1987/1988 and from 1994 to 1996 he was Foreign Minister , in between he was Minister responsible for the development aid granted to the country.

He was Prime Minister from January 5, 1999 to September 26, 2001. He has been a member of parliament since the parliamentary elections in March 2002. His party elected him at their 4th party congress on February 27, 2005 with 708 against 3 votes to succeed the long-time chairman Manuel Pinto da Costa .

Guilherme Posser da Costa, like the former Prime Minister Maria das Neves, is one of the politicians who have been called for by the public prosecutor's office to lift their parliamentary immunity over allegations of corruption . After he vandalized the prosecutor's office in November 2004 over these allegations, which he denies, he was sentenced to two years in prison. In mid-March 2005 the judgment was overturned and he was asked to pay 1,500 euros in damages.

He was expected to run against President Fradique de Menezes in the 2006 presidential election , but the MLSTP-PSD did not nominate a candidate.