Asked by Lusa about the need for corrections to the 1990 Orthographic Agreement, defended by the CPLP Parliamentary Assembly, because the document "continues to generate a lot of controversy and confusion" in the member states of the Lusophone organization, Patrice Trovoada stressed that "language is dynamic" and that "it is normal to make some corrections".

The Prime Minister of São Tomé spoke on the sidelines of the solemn act commemorating the World Day of the Portuguese Language and the Culture of the CPLP and also defended that "it has been well received by young people" and should be ratified by the member states of the CPLP.

"The language that is the seed that unites us all and that is the basis that we must develop is the Portuguese language, but it has to keep up with the world, it has to be dynamic, it has to adapt, it has to be simplified, [be] easier to access and in this dynamic, I think so, we all have to ratify, we have to correct and we always have to keep in mind that the language can only evolve with the contribution of all because, deep down, it is the heritage of all of us", said the head of the São Tomé government.

"Evolution is fundamental, simplification is fundamental and we know that we will not stop there. In a few years, we will have to adapt, we will have to integrate words that also come from this diversity that we have to assume them as Portuguese words, so we need to see things in a dynamic way", added the Prime Minister of São Tomé.

Patrice Trovoada said that the new school textbooks of São Tomé and Príncipe, which are being revised, will already take into account the spelling agreement, but considered that, as it is an investment, the fundamental thing is the way in which everything has to be supported "to allow adaptations" because "revision costs a lot of money", but technology will help to adjust the steps in this regard, but if necessary, the adaptation should be made "as quickly as possible".

The meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (AP-CPLP), which took place in the Angolan capital in April, decided "by consensus that there is a need to make corrections to the Agreement so that it can be ratified soon".

On that occasion, the president of Commission 3 -- Language, Education, Science and Culture of the (AP-CPLP), Paulo de Carvalho, admitted that the sooner the corrections are made, "the sooner the executives and parliaments of the States that have not yet ratified will do so".

Unifying spelling standards across the Lusophone bloc is among the main purposes of this international treaty signed 33 years ago and which has yet to be ratified by all CPLP countries, which raise sociocultural issues of their respective peoples.

Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe and East Timor are the nine countries that make up the CPLP.

Read Also: CPLP wants to strengthen the teaching of the Portuguese language for quality education (Portuguese version)