Costa Rican general election, 1998

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Costa Rican general election, 1998
Flag of Costa Rica.svg
  1994 1 February 1998 [1] 2002  

  MiguelAngelRodriguezEcheverria.jpg No image.svg No image.svg
Candidate Miguel Ángel Rodríguez José Miguel Corrales Vladimir de la Cruz
Party Social Christian Unity National Liberation Democratic Force
Home state San José Cartago San José
Presidential vote 652.160 (46.9%) 618.834 (44.4%) 41.710 (3.02%%)
Legislative vote 569,792 (41.2%) 481,933 (34.8%) 79,826 (5.8%)
Seats 27 23 3
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 2Decrease2.svg 5Increase2.svg 1

Resultados electorales por provincia 1998.png

Provinces won by Rodriguez in blue, Corrales in green

President before election

José María Figueres
National Liberation

Elected President

Miguel Ángel Rodríguez
Social Christian Unity

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 1 February 1998. [2] 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. [3]

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.

Miguel Ángel Rodríguez President of Costa Rica

Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Echeverría is a Costa Rican economist, lawyer, businessman and politician. He served as President of Costa Rica from 1998 to 2002, and was briefly Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) in 2004, before stepping down and returning to his country to face allegations of financial wrongdoing during his presidential tenure in Costa Rica. On 27 April 2011 he was sentenced to 5 years in prison for corruption.

Social Christian Unity Party political party

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

Contents

An economic recession, a teachers' strike due to a pensions' reform and some corruption scandals made President José María Figueres' government highly unpopular. Thus, officialist candidate José Miguel Corrales tried to distance himself from Figueres as much as possible. Corrales won over former President of Congress Jorge Walter Coto Molina in PLN's primaries but the discovery of Voter fraud damaged PLN's image and split the party. [4] On the contrary in PUSC, previous candidate Miguel Ángel Rodríguez was seen as the natural nominee for this election, and despite the fact that deputy Luis Fishman was rumored as a possible internal opponent, he finally declined and Rodríguez was nominated without the need of primaries, thus keeping the party united. During Figueres' administration the so call Figueres-Calderón Pact was signed between the leaders of the two main parties (and sons of the two caudillos of the 1948 civil war); him and Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier (Rodríguez political rival) to approve several mutually beneficial laws for both major parties, something that caused outrage among large segments of the population and started the downfall of the two-party system. [5]

President of Costa Rica head of state and head of government of Costa Rica

The President of Costa Rica is the head of state and head of government of Costa Rica. The President is currently elected in direct elections for a period of four years, which is not immediately renewable. Two Vice presidents are elected in the same ticket with the president. The president appoints the Council of Ministers. Due to the abolition of the military of Costa Rica in 1948, the president is not a Commander-in-chief, unlike the norm in most other countries, although the Constitution does describe him as commander in chief of the civil defense public forces.

José María Figueres President of Costa Rica

José María Figueres Olsen is a Costa Rican businessman and politician. After he left the presidency of Costa Rica in 1998, Figueres has also been involved in global issues such as climate change, sustainable development, and technology. He started his career as an engineer working in agribusiness. After a decade, he entered public service as Minister of Foreign Trade and then Minister of Agriculture. In 1994, he was elected President of Costa Rica, as the nation's youngest elected president of the 20th century. In 2000, he joined the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, and later he worked with Concordia 21 in Madrid. Since 2010, he has been Chairman of the Carbon War Room, an independent non-profit organization focused on the global transition to a low-carbon economy. On 27 March 2012, Sir Richard Branson announced that he was appointed as the new President of the Carbon War Room.

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.

Results

President

CandidatePartyVotes%
Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Social Christian Unity Party 652,16047.1
José Miguel Corrales Bolaños National Liberation Party 618,83444.6
Vladimir De la Cruz De Lemos Democratic Force 41,7103.0
Walter Muñoz Céspedes National Integration Party 19,9341.4
Sherman Thomas Jackson Costa Rican Renewal Party 19,3131.4
Álvaro González Espinoza Democratic Party 12,9520.9
Federico Malavassi Calvo Movimiento Libertario 5,8740.4
Jorge González Martén National Independent Party 4,2180.3
Alejandro Madrigal Benavides Christian National Alliance 3,5450.3
Norma Vargas Duarte United People 3,0750.2
Rodrigo Gutiérrez Schwanhäuser New Democratic Party 3,0250.2
Yolanda Gutiérrez Ventura Independent Party 1,3770.1
Invalid/blank votes43,715-
Total1,431,913100
Source: Nohlen
Popular Vote
Social Christian Unity
47.1%
National Liberation
44.6%
Democratic Force
3.0%
National Integration
1.4%
Costa Rican Renewal
1.4%
Democratic
0.9%
Libertarian Movement
0.4%
Other
1.0%

Parliament

The country was for the time still under a heavy two-party system dynamics [6] [7] [8] and the two main parties at the time; National Liberation Party and Social Christian Unity Party won most of the votes. Nevertheless, some third forces also won seats on the Parliament, among them left-wing Democratic Force won two seats. It was also the first time that liberal Libertarian Movement and Christian conservative [9] Costa Rican Renewal won seats (one each) in the Parliament both for their future presidential candidates Otto Guevara and Justo Orozco respectively. The small party National Integration Party led by medic Walter Muñoz won its only seat in history for Muñoz himself.

A two-party system is a party system where two major political parties dominate the government. One of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually referred to as the majority or governing party while the other is the minority or opposition party. Around the world, the term has different senses. For example, in the United States, Jamaica, and Malta, the sense of two-party system describes an arrangement in which all or nearly all elected officials belong to one of the only two major parties, and third parties rarely win any seats in the legislature. In such arrangements, two-party systems are thought to result from various factors like winner-takes-all election rules. In such systems, while chances for third-party candidates winning election to major national office are remote, it is possible for groups within the larger parties, or in opposition to one or both of them, to exert influence on the two major parties. In contrast, in the United Kingdom and Australia and in other parliamentary systems and elsewhere, the term two-party system is sometimes used to indicate an arrangement in which two major parties dominate elections but in which there are viable third parties which do win seats in the legislature, and in which the two major parties exert proportionately greater influence than their percentage of votes would suggest.

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.

Democratic Force (Costa Rica) political party

Democratic Force nicknamed “El Naranjazo” was a political party in Costa Rica.

PartyVotes%Seats+/-
Social Christian Unity Party 569,79241.227+2
National Liberation Party 481,93334.823-5
Democratic Force 79,8265.83+1
Movimiento Libertario 42,6403.11New
National Integration Party 34,4082.51New
Costa Rican Renovation Party 27,8922.01New
Democratic Party 17,0601.20New
Agrarian Labour Action Party 16,9551.21+1
United People 15,0281.20New
National Independent Party 12,7940.900
Generaleña Union 12,5830.900
New Democratic Party 12,4760.90New
National Rescue Party 9,5880.70New
Christian National Alliance 9,1760.700
Cartago Agrarian Union Party 7,1380.50-1
Partido Agrario Nacional7,4970.50-1
Alajuelense Democratic Action 6,6140.500
Independent Party 6,0250.400
Cambio Ya2,2230.20New
Convergencia Nacional2,1970.200
Limonese Authentic Party 2,1670.200
Cartago Agrarian Force1,8920.10New
Independent Guanacaste Party 1,6230.100
Invalid/blank votes47,052---
Total1,430,579100570
Source: Nohlen
Popular Vote
Social Christian Unity
41.2%
National Liberation
34.8%
Democratic Force
5.8%
Libertarian Movement
3.1%
National Integration
2.5%
Costa Rican Renewal
2.0%
Democratic
1.2%
Agrarian Labour Action
1.2%
United People
1.2%
Other
7.0%
Seats
Social Christian Unity
47.38%
National Liberation
40.35%
Democratic Force
5.26%
Libertarian Movement
1.75%
National Integration
1.75%
Costa Rican Renewal
1.75%
Agrarian Labour Action
1.75%

Related Research Articles

Politics of Costa Rica democracy

The politics of Costa Rica take place in a framework of a presidential, representative democratic republic, with a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the president and his cabinet, and the President of Costa Rica is both the head of state and head of government. Legislative power is vested in the Legislative Assembly. The president and 57 Legislative Assembly deputies are elected for four-year terms. The judiciary operates independent of the executive and the legislature but remains involved in the political process. Costa Rica is a republic with a strong system of constitutional checks and balances. Voting is compulsory in Costa Rica but it is not enforced.

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.

2010 Costa Rican general election election

Costa Rica held parliamentary and presidential elections on 7 February 2010. The ruling party before the election, the center-left National Liberation Party, put forward former Vice-President Laura Chinchilla as its presidential candidate, while the libertarian, Movimiento Libertario nominated former legislator Otto Guevara. Opinion polls before voting started consistently put Chinchilla as the front-runner, a trend confirmed in the election-night count, which showed her garnering 46.76% of the vote.

1953 Costa Rican general election

General elections were held in Costa Rica on 26 July 1953. 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.

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%.

2002 Costa Rican general election

General elections were held in Costa Rica on 3 February 2002. For the first time in the country's history, no candidate in the presidential election passed the 40% threshold. This meant a second round of voting had to be held on 7 April which saw Abel Pacheco of the Social Christian Unity Party defeat the National Liberation Party's Rolando Araya Monge.

2001 National Liberation Party presidential primary

A primary election was held among the members of Costa Rica’s National Liberation Party (PLN) on June 3, 2001 in order to choose PLN’s nominee for presidency in the 2002 general election. PLN was then the main opposition party facing then in government Social Christian Unity Party. This, as was common since the 70s, was an open primary and as such all Costa Ricans could vote in it with the only requirement be signing membership of the party moments before entering the polls.

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.

Reform State Period in Costa Rican history

The Reform State or Reformist State is a period in Costa Rican history characterized by the change in political and economic paradigm switching from the uncontrolled capitalism and laissez faire of the Liberal State into a more economically progressive Welfare State. The period ranges from approximately 1940 starting with the presidency of social reformer Rafael Angel Calderón Guardia and ends around the 1980s with the first neoliberal and Washington Consensus reforms that begun after the government of Luis Alberto Monge.

References

  1. "February 1,Election Results - Costa Rica Totals". Election Resources. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  2. Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p155 ISBN   978-0-19-928357-6
  3. Nohlen, pp156-157
  4. Fernández, Oscar Costa Rica. La reafirmación del bipartidismo Revista Nueva Sociedad No.131, PP. 4-10
  5. "Copia archivada". Archived from the original on 5 July 2013. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  6. Landsford, Tom. Political Handbook of the World 2014 . Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  7. Landsford, Tom. Political Handbook of the World 2012 . Retrieved 13 March 2016.
  8. Greenspana, Eliot; Gill, Nicholas; O'Malley, Charlie; Gilsenan, Patrick; Perill, Jisel. Elecciones legislativas de Costa Rica de 2002. Frommer's Central America.
  9. Lopez, Jaime (July 18, 2013). "Civic Groups Move Against Gay Marriage in Costa Rica". Costa Rica Star. Retrieved 13 March 2016.