Sao Tome and Principe's allied, minority-based new government has sworn in, with severe challenges lying ahead, according to reports reaching here Monday.

President Fradique de Menezes urged Sao Tome and Principe's fragmented political leadership to work together, setting aside " the bruises" suffered in recent parliamentary elections.

De Menezes issued the call on Friday during the office taking ceremony of Prime Minister Tom Vera Cruz and his two-party cabinet, which lacks majority support in the newly elected 55-seat legislature, and this means that the new government faces a severe challenge on his govern road, according to analysts.

The conspicuous absence from the ceremony of the top leaders of the islands' two main opposition forces - Guilherme Posser da Costa of the outgoing ruling Movement for the Liberation of Sao Tome and Principe (MLSTP) party and Patrice Trovoada of the Independent Democratic Action (ADI) party - underlined the difficulties Vera Cruz may face in getting parliament's decisive blessing for his government program.

"All are asked for responsibility so that the bruises from the last elections do not consume us", de Menezes said, urging reconciliation for "the good of the nation and of us all".

Vera Cruz, whose de Menezes-backed Force for Change Democratic Movement-Democratic Convergence Party (MDFM-PCD) alliance emerged first with 23 lawmakers in the March 26 and April 2 voting, pledged to "change the country" for the better without excluding anyone.

According to the new Primer Minister, the new government's " strategic objectives" centered on reforming public services, consolidating democracy, promoting economic expansion and combating poverty in order to achieve "sustained growth of income and quality of life" for the islands' 160,000 people.

Vera Cruz is expected to face parliament with his government program late next month.

The impoverished Gulf of Guinea archipelago stands on the verge of entering what has been dubbed locally as "the oil era" as promising oil exploration operations get underway in a deep-water zone shared with Nigeria.

De Menezes, who clashed repeatedly with MLSTP-led cabinets, is expected to seek a second five-year mandate in a presidential election expected in July or August.

The victory of the MDFM-PCD coalition in the legislative election of Sao Tome and Principe was confirmed by the archipelago 's top court after a week-long ballot recount, paving the way for the appointment of a new government.

The MDFM-PCD has taken 23 seats in the 55- member legislature of the Gulf of Guinea microstate. The outgoing ruling MLSTP party sent 20 lawmakers to parliament, and the third-placed ADI party garnered 11 seats in the chamber, while the small Movement for New Direction (MNR) party took the remaining seat in parliament.

Sao Tome's Constitutional Court had ordered a recount of all votes April 4, a move described by the MDFM- PCD, backed by President Fradique de Menezes, as "illegal".

The winning presidential alliance, MDFM-PCD, does not enjoy a working majority and will rule in a minority.

Sao Tome's fifth multiparty parliamentary elections were originally due to have taken place March 26, but replay ballots were ordered a week later after vote boycotts in some districts.

Presidential polls are expected later this year in the archipelago, when President de Menezes is expected to face a leadership challenge from MLSTP chief Guilherme Posser da Costa.

Source: Xinhua