SÃO TOMÉ AND PRINCIPE: A Retro Approach to Politics?
By Ramusel Graça

SÃO TOMÉ, Oct 15 (IPS) - It is lonely at the top – especially when you are one of only two women among 53 men at the National Assembly.

The Assembly's white, sprawling building in the capital of the tiny archipelago of São Tomé and Príncipe (pop. 200,000),in the Gulf of Guinea, west of Gabon, has a definite retro, 1960s feel to it. What goes on inside, in terms of gender balance, is as retro as its boxy architecture, clean lines and concrete curls and zigzags.

"This is an anachronism," says Albertino Bragança, a Member of Parliament. "The cultural machismo prevailing in our society -- that women must care for the children and the home -- is the problem."