The President of Sao Tome stated that he did not attend the coronation ceremony of the King of the United Kingdom because he did not receive an official invitation to the event where Sao Tome was represented by the Prime Minister, which devalued any controversy over the matter.
“I was not represented because I did not receive any invitation to represent Sao Tome and Principe at this event. And without receiving an official invitation, it would be wrong for me to be represented,” said Carlos Vila Nova. to a question from reporters on Sunday.
“It’s protocol, there are orders and there are procedures to be followed, and I couldn’t do that with the people of San Tomean without getting an official invitation to be there,” the president of San Tomean added.
Sao Tome and Principe was represented by Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada, who returned to the country this Monday.
Asked to comment on the statements of the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister considered Sao Tome and Principe’s participation in the ceremony important and said that he did not know the context in which the statements of the Head of State of Sao Tome were.
“I will not comment here on a statement that I have not heard myself, I do not know in what context. I want to say that we are slowly meeting on Tuesday [com o Presidente] and if it is the case that we will solve the problem, we will solve the problem, and if it is the case that there are any clarifications, the clarifications will be given smoothly,” said Patrice Trovoada.
The Prime Minister stated that he would not “make trouble about what was not a problem”.
A journalist asked the Prime Minister about “a document purporting to be from the British Foreign Office, which gives an exact list of 2,000 guests. [dos países para cerimónia] and that there is no name for Sao Tome and Principe,” which, according to Patrice Trovoada, he does not know.
“I don’t know the document, I don’t know. To be honest, I’m not very interested in being there and commenting on such things. I don’t know about the list, I don’t know what’s going on, if it’s a list of 2,000, then we’re talking about 500 guests, […] These are issues that do not concern me,” the Prime Minister replied.
“We have something to worry about. I know the press likes to pick up on the little things and make such a fuss, but there’s no need for that. No problems, everything went great. […] the country must work peacefully, especially on the most important things,” concluded Patrice Trovoada at the Nuno Xavier airport in Sao Tome on his return from the United Kingdom, where he participated in the coronation ceremony of King Carlos III.