In statements to the press recounted by the Portuguese news agency Lusa, the second-term President says the charges against hiom and Foreign Minister Ovidio Pequeno were cooked up by the opposition in advance of March elections.
Here is the Lusa report:
Sao Tome: Menezes charges gov't with fabricating scandal against FM
Sao Tome, Jan. 9 (Lusa) - President Fradique de Menezes of Sao Tome and Principe said Monday that the government has "fabricated" a scandal against its foreign minister in an attempt to discredit the islands` president and opposition forces ahead of elections due later this year.
Reading a statement to reporters in his presidential palace, Menezes criticized claims by the government of Prime Minister Maria do Carmo Silveira that Foreign Minister Ovídeo Pequeno "improperly" spent aid funds from Morocco and that the diplomat had been disloyal to the cabinet.
Sao Tome's foreign minister does not have any party allegiances, but is a close ally of the president. A scandal erupted in the islands last week after a media report that Pequeno had spend some euros 47,000 on various goods without government authorization.
Returning home Friday, Pequeno said the funds were a "one-off" and "direct" donation from the king of Morocco to Menezes and, as such, could be transferred and spent without authorization from Prime Minister Silveira, who also serves as finance minister.
Previous presidents had followed the same practice with such personal donations, Pequeno added.
Menezes, in his communiqué, added that the government attacks on Pequeno were an attempted "political stitch-up" to discredit the president and the main MDFM opposition ahead of general elections expected this year.
He also criticized the islands' head of government for having made the matter public and of launching an inquiry without having consulted first with himself or Pequeno.
Silveira's cabinet had met Saturday to discuss the week-old scandal, issuing a harsh statement condemning the spending of Moroccan aid funds by Pequeno, the governmet's political rival.
The cabinet, however, did not say what if any sanction it would take towards Pequeno, whose resignation has been demanded by parties backing the government.
Silveira ordered an "urgent" inquiry into the affair last Tuesday after the newspaper "Equador" reported the alleged misuse of foreign aid funds by Pequeno, who was then holidaying overseas.
Observers said that, regardless of the immediate outcome for Pequeno, the affair was embarrassing for the president, who leads forces challenging the ruling MLSTP party in legislative elections expected in March.
The president and government are also involved in a feud, also involving allegations of corruption, over the awarding of five offshore oil exploration blocks in the Joint Development Zone shared with Nigeria.
RCN/CJB/SAS.
Lusa
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