Three and a half million Costa Ricans are authorized to vote in the Costa Rican general elections on Sunday, February 6. will be chosen president, two vice-presidents and the 57 deputies of the Legislative Assembly for the period 2022-2026.
One of the surprising things about this election is the amount of candidates who compete for the first magistracy: 25. According to polls, the vast majority of these candidates have no chance of reaching the presidency.
The dispute boils down to two men and one woman. who are fighting to go to the almost certain second electoral round scheduled for April 3 between the two most voted candidates. In the first round, the one who obtains the simple majority with a threshold of 40% wins.
If the forecasts of the polls are met, Costa Rica will elect its president in a Second round for the fourth time in its modern history. The previous occasions were in 2002, 2014 and 2018.
the undecided
The main candidates are, the former president Jose Maria Figueres (1994-1998)of the National Liberation Party (center) and the former vice president Lineth Saborio (2002-2006) of the Christian Social Unity Party (centre-right).
The National Liberation and Christian Social Unity parties marked the dispute over the government from the mid-1980s until 2014, when the Citizen Action Party (center-left) broke out, led by the current president of the country, Carlos Alvarado Quesada. The official candidate, Welmer Ramos, appears very low in the polls, so it is highly probable that the young party will be left out of the government.
Another candidate seeking to reach a second round is Fabricio Alvarado Munoz of New Republic, a party founded in 2019 belonging to the right.
The main option on the left is Jose Maria Villaltafrom the Broad Front (founded in 2004), but which seems to have little chance of competing.
Rodrigo Chavezfrom the Social Democratic Progress Party (center) that was founded in 2018, is another one that appears with some possibility of competing.
The key to the main candidates is to seduce the mass of undecided voters who mark the polls. Public opinion studies by the Center for Research and Political Studies of the University of Costa Rica have been showing that undecided are above 40%. In Costa Rica, voting is mandatory, but there are no penalties for not doing so.
These elections, in addition, take place in the context of the pandemic caused by covid-19. The fight against this disease has been one of the campaign themes. Added to this is the fight against corruption and unemployment.
The 25 candidates
One of the peculiarities of this election is the number of candidates that are presented. “Surely one of the factors that have influenced this situation is the fact that there is a perception that anyone can end up gaining access to the presidency,” historian Rafael Cuevas Molina assessed in a note published on the Nodal portal.
The former Minister of Education during the government of José María Figueres maintained that the proliferation of parties is due to the fact that interest in politics changed in the country. There is a “rejection of traditional parties” while new parties are founded and candidacies are launched.
The complete list of presidential candidates
- José María Figueres – National Liberation Party
- Lineth Saborío – Christian Social Unity Party
- Fabricio Alvarado – New Republic Party
- José María Villalta – Broad Front Party
- Rodrigo Chávez – Social Democratic Progress Party
- Eliécer Feinzaig – Progressive Liberal Party
- Rolando Araya – Fair Costa Rica Match
- Welmer Ramos – Citizen Action Party
- Greivin Moya – National Force Party
- Eduardo Cruickshank – National Restoration Party
- Rodolfo Hernández – Social Christian Republican Party
- Federico Malavassi – Liberal Union Party
- Sergio Mena – New Generation Party
- Rodolfo Piza – Our People Party
- Oscar Campos – National Encounter Party
- Luis Cordero- Libertarian Movement Party
- Oscar López – Accessibility Without Exclusion Party
- Natalia Diaz – United We Can Party
- Carmen Quesada – Costa Rican Social Justice Party
- Christian Rivera – Christian Democratic Alliance Party
- Maricela Morales – Costa Rican Democratic Union Party
- Martin Chinchilla – United People Party
- Roulan Jiménez – Costa Rican Social Democratic Movement Party
- Walter Muñoz – National Integration Party
- Jhonn Vega – Workers Party
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