Guilherme Posser da Costa, the former prime minister of Sao Tome and Principe, resigned as a member of parliament on Tuesday, moments before being stripped of his parliamentary immunity to face questioning over an alleged assault on the country's attorney general.

According to reports reaching here on Wednesday, da Costa, who sat as a lawmaker for the ruling Movement for the Liberation of Sao Tome and Principe (MLSTP) and is also its vice president, saidhe had left his seat in parliament, as neither the chamber nor SaoTome's democracy "have sense."

The lifting of the ex-leader's immunity had been requested by acourt investigating an alleged attack by da Costa on Attorney General Adelino Pereira last November.

Pereira was investigating a case involving embezzlement of a foreign aid fund allegedly involving many former government officials.

The aid fraud scandal also led to the sacking of former prime minister Maria das Neves, also of the MLSTP, by President Fradiquede Menezes.

Four MPs wanted for questioning in the aid fraud case were authorized Tuesday by Sao Tome's parliament to face questioning incourt over the affair, but retained their immunity.

Source: Xinhua