[1][2] The final result saw former president Manuel Pinto da Costa, aged 74, elected in a narrow victory against Speaker of Parliament Evaristo Carvalho.

Pinto da Costa, who ran independently,[4] won the most votes but failed to receive the majority required to claim an outright victory.

Carvalho, of the ruling party Independent Democratic Action (Portuguese: Acção Democratica Independente, ADI), a former prime minister and the incumbent Speaker of the National Assembly, placed second.

Pinto da Costa's main rival, Carvalho, represented the ADI, which won the parliamentary elections in August 2010 and is the ruling party of incumbent Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada.

[8] The only major controversy observed was a boycott by around 30,000 from five small villages on São Tomé's northern shore, in protest over grievances with living conditions that had not been addressed.

[10] Several analysts have raised concerns that Pinto da Costa's victory may trigger a return to the authoritarian rule seen during his previous period in power.