Costa Rican general election, 1953

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Costa Rican general election, 1953
Flag of Costa Rica.svg
  1948 26 July 1953 1958  
Turnout 67%

  Jose Figueres Ferrer 1.png No image.png
Nominee José Figueres Fernando Castro Cervantes
Party National Liberation Democratic
Home state Alajuela San José
Popular vote294,016 67,324
Percentage64.7% 35.3%

Resultados electorales provinciales 1953.png

Provinces won by Figueres

President before election

Otilio Ulate
National Union

Elected President

José Figueres
National Liberation

Coat of arms of Costa Rica.svg
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Costa Rica

General elections were held in Costa Rica on 26 July 1953. [1] José Figueres Ferrer of the National Liberation Party won the presidential election, whilst his party also won the parliamentary election. Voter turnout was 67.2 percent in the presidential election and 67.5 percent in the parliamentary election. [2]

Costa Rica country in Central America

Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, and Ecuador to the south of Cocos Island. It has a population of around 5 million in a land area of 51,060 square kilometers. An estimated 333,980 people live in the capital and largest city, San José with around 2 million people in the surrounding metropolitan area.

José Figueres Ferrer President of Costa Rica

José María Hipólito Figueres Ferrer served as President of Costa Rica on three occasions: 1948–1949, 1953–1958 and 1970–1974. During his first term in office he abolished the country's army, nationalized its banking sector, and granted women and Afrodescendents the right to vote, as well as access to Costarrican nationality to people of African descent. He was a good friend of the Governor of Puerto Rico, Luis Muñoz Marín, praising his political achievements in one of his essays.

National Liberation Party (Costa Rica) political party

The National Liberation Party, nicknamed the verdiblancos, is a political party in Costa Rica. The party is a member of the Socialist International.

Contents

This was Costa Rica’s first election since the end of the 1948 Civil War, and democratic guarantees were not fully restored.

The Costa Rican Civil War was the bloodiest event in 20th-century Costa Rican history. It lasted for 44 days, during which approximately 2,000 people are believed to have died. The conflict was precipitated by the vote of the Costa Rican Legislature, dominated by pro-government representatives, to annul the results of the presidential elections held in February, alleging that the triumph of opposition candidate Otilio Ulate had been achieved by fraud.

Democracy system of government in which citizens vote directly in or elect representatives to form a governing body, sometimes called "rule of the majority"

Democracy is a system of government where the citizens exercise power by voting. In a direct democracy, the citizens as a whole form a governing body and vote directly on each issue. In a representative democracy the citizens elect representatives from among themselves. These representatives meet to form a governing body, such as a legislature. In a constitutional democracy the powers of the majority are exercised within the framework of a representative democracy, but the constitution limits the majority and protects the minority, usually through the enjoyment by all of certain individual rights, e.g. freedom of speech, or freedom of association. "Rule of the majority" is sometimes referred to as democracy. Democracy is a system of processing conflicts in which outcomes depend on what participants do, but no single force controls what occurs and its outcomes.

José Figueres, the caudillo of the victorious National Liberation Army faction in the Civil War, was the candidate of the newly founded National Liberation Party (PLN). [3] Liberal Mario Echandi tried to be the candidate from then-ruling National Union Party (PUN), but his candidacy was denied by the Electoral Tribunal due to purported irregularities in the adherents' signatures. [3] This move was highly criticized by Figueres' opponents as an action in favor of Figueres' candidacy. [3]

National Union Party (Costa Rica)

The National Union Party is the name of several liberal conservative parties in Costa Rica, generally located right-to-center in the political spectrum.

As PUN was unable to participate, the only other candidacy alternate to Figueres was made by the Democratic Party, which nominated wealthy industrial magnate Fernando Castro Cervantes. [3] The three parties—PLN, PUN and Democratic—were all formerly united in opposition against the 1940s governments of Rafael Angel Calderón and his allies, who were viewed as having caused the civil war. Yet, after the war, such unification ceased. [3]

Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia President of Costa Rica from 1940 to 1944

Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia was a Costa Rican doctor and politician, who served as President from 1940 to 1944.

The losing sides in the civil war, mostly the Republicans (Calderón supporters) and the Communists, were unable to participate as the Republicans' party was disbanded and the Communist Party was constitutionally outlawed. [3] The Republicans were nonetheless allowed to participate in the legislative ballot with a provincial party in San José called the "Independent" Republican Party, and thereby gained some seats. As expected, Figueres won by a landslide victory. [3]

National Republican Party (Costa Rica)

The National Republican Party was a political party in Costa Rica.

Peoples Vanguard Party (Costa Rica)

The People's Vanguard Party, or Popular Vanguard Party is a communist party in Costa Rica. PVP was founded in 1931 as the Workers and Farmers Party, but was soon renamed to the Communist Party of Costa Rica.

San José Province Province in Costa Rica

San José is a province of Costa Rica. It is located in the central part of the country, and borders the provinces of Alajuela, Heredia, Limón, Cartago and Puntarenas. The provincial and national capital is San José. The province covers an area of 4,965.9 km². and has a population of 1,404,242.

Results

President

Popular Vote
National Liberation
64.7%
Democratic
35.3%
CandidatePartyVotes%
José Figueres Ferrer National Liberation Party 123,44464.7
Fernando Castro Cervantes Democratic Party 67,32435.3
Invalid/blank votes6,721-
Total197,489100
Source: Nohlen

By province

Province % PLN % PD %
Bandera de San Jose (Costa Rica).svg  San José 64.1 35.9
Bandera de la Provincia de Alajuela.svg  Alajuela 67.8 32.2
Bandera de Cartago (Costa Rica).svg  Cartago 75.0 25.0
Bandera de la Provincia de Heredia.svg  Heredia 62.5 37.5
Bandera de la Provincia de Puntarenas.svg  Puntarenas 58.4 41.6
Bandera de la Provincia de Limon.svg  Limón 54.4 45.6
Bandera de la Provincia de Guanacaste.svg  Guanacaste 57.9 42.1
Total 64.7 35.3

Parliament

Popular Vote
National Liberation
64.7%
Democratic
21.2%
Ind. National Republican
7.2%
National Union
6.9%
Seats
National Liberation
66.7%
Democratic
24.4%
Ind. National Republican
6.6%
National Union
2.23%
PartyVotes%Seats
National Liberation Party 114,04364.730
Democratic Party 67,32421.211
Independent National Republican Party 12,6967.23
National Union Party 12,0696.91
Invalid/blank votes22,140--
Total198,27010045
Source: Nohlen

By province

Province PLN PD PRN PUN
% S % S % S % S
Bandera de San Jose (Costa Rica).svg  San José 64.710 11.42 17.33 6.61
Bandera de la Provincia de Alajuela.svg  Alajuela 67.86 26.42 -- 5.70
Bandera de Cartago (Costa Rica).svg  Cartago 75.55 18.21 -- 6.30
Bandera de la Provincia de Heredia.svg  Heredia 62.22 31.11 -- 6.30
Bandera de la Provincia de Puntarenas.svg  Puntarenas 59.13 36.02 -- 4.90
Bandera de la Provincia de Limon.svg  Limón 55.01 30.71 -- 14.30
Bandera de la Provincia de Guanacaste.svg  Guanacaste 53.23 36.02 -- 10.80
Total 64.730 21.211 7.23 6.91

Related Research Articles

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The Social Christian Unity Party is a centre-right political party in Costa Rica.

1940 Costa Rican general election

General elections were held in Costa Rica on 11 February 1940. Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia of the Independent National Republican Party won the presidential election. Voter turnout was 80.8% in the presidential election and 65.6% in the parliamentary election.

1948 Costa Rican general election

General elections were held in Costa Rica on 8 February 1948. Otilio Ulate Blanco of the National Union Party won the presidential election with 55.3% of the vote, although the elections were deemed fraudulent and annulled by Congress, leading to the Costa Rican Civil War later that year. Following the war, the results of the parliamentary election were also annulled. Voter turnout was 43.8% in the vice-presidential election and 49.2%.

1958 Costa Rican general election

General elections were held in Costa Rica on 2 February 1958. Mario Echandi Jiménez of the National Union Party won the presidential election, whilst the National Liberation Party won the parliamentary election. Voter turnout was 64.7%.

1962 Costa Rican general election

General elections were held in Costa Rica on 4 February 1962. Francisco Orlich Bolmarcich of the National Liberation Party won the presidential election, whilst his party also won the parliamentary election. Voter turnout was 80.9%.

1966 Costa Rican general election

General elections were held in Costa Rica on 6 February 1966. José Joaquín Trejos Fernández of the National Unification Party won the presidential election, whilst the National Liberation Party won the parliamentary election. Voter turnout was 81.4%.

1970 Costa Rican general election

General elections were held in Costa Rica on 1 February 1970. José Figueres Ferrer of the National Liberation Party won the presidential election, whilst his party also won the parliamentary election. Voter turnout was 83.3%.

1974 Costa Rican general election

General elections were held in Costa Rica on 3 February 1974. Daniel Oduber Quirós of the National Liberation Party won the presidential election, whilst his party also won the parliamentary election. Voter turnout was 79.9%.

1978 Costa Rican general election

General elections were held in Costa Rica on 5 February 1978. Rodrigo Carazo Odio of the Unity Coalition won the presidential election, whilst his party also won the parliamentary election. Voter turnout was 81%.

1982 Costa Rican general election

General elections were held in Costa Rica on 7 February 1982. Luis Alberto Monge of the National Liberation Party won the presidential election, whilst his party also won the parliamentary election. Voter turnout was 78.6%.

1986 Costa Rican general election

General elections were held in Costa Rica on 2 February 1986. Óscar Arias of the National Liberation Party won the presidential election, whilst his party also won the parliamentary election. Voter turnout was 81.8%.

1990 Costa Rican general election

General elections were held in Costa Rica on 4 February 1990. Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier of the Social Christian Unity Party won the presidential election, whilst his party also won the parliamentary election. Voter turnout was 81.8%.

1994 Costa Rican general election

General elections were held in Costa Rica on 6 February 1994. José María Figueres of the National Liberation Party won the presidential election, whilst his party also won the parliamentary election. Voter turnout was 81.1%.

1998 Costa Rican general election

General elections were held in Costa Rica on 1 February 1998. Miguel Ángel Rodríguez of the Social Christian Unity Party won the presidential election, whilst his party also won the parliamentary election. Voter turnout was 70%, the lowest since the 1950s.

Constituent Assembly of Costa Rica

Costa Rica’s National Constituent Assembly was formed after the 1948 civil war. Elections to the Assembly for a New Constitution were called on December 8, 1948 by the then de facto Junta provisional government presided by José Figueres. The Assembly took place between January 15 and November 7, 1949. The Assembly successfully drafted and approved the current Costa Rican Constitution.

Liberalism in Costa Rica

Liberalism in Costa Rica is a political philosophy with a long and complex history. Liberals were the hegemonic political group for most of Costa Rica’s history specially during the periods of the Free State and the First Republic, however, as the liberal model exhausted itself and new more left-wing reformist movements clashed during the Costa Rican Civil War liberalism was relegated to a secondary role after the Second Costa Rican Republic with the development of Costa Rica’s Welfare State and its two-party system controlled by social-democratic and Christian democratic parties.

References

  1. Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p155 ISBN   978-0-19-928357-6
  2. Nohlen, p156
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hernández Naranjo, Gerardo. "Reseña de las elecciones presidenciales de 1953" (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 April 2016.