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Municipal elections were held in Costa Rica on 7 February 2016, in order to elect the mayors of the 81 cantons [1] of the country plus a proportional number of aldermen (regidores) in each of the canton’s municipal councils, a syndic for every district and members of the District Councils and a total of 8 Intendants for districts and islands located too far away from the administrative center.
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.
Costa Rica is administratively divided into seven provinces which are subdivided into 82 cantons, and these are further subdivided into districts. Cantons are the only administrative division in Costa Rica that possess local government in the form of municipalities. Each municipality has its own mayor and several representatives, all of them chosen via municipal elections every four years.
A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality such as a city council or a town council.
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For the first time in history, [2] election of aldermen was held at the same time as the other municipal offices. Until 2010 councilors were elected at the same time as the President and deputies in the general elections but a reform in the Electoral Law made all municipal offices elected at the same time and in the middle of the presidential period. [3] Also, because of this change in the legislation, the previous election was held for a one-time only 6 years period. [3]
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.
Oppositional National Liberation Party earned most of the votes achieving majority in all offices including 50 mayors and 186 councilors, even though it suffer a noticeable decrease both in votes and offices obtained, including the lost of two provincial capitals; Limon city and San José city, both of them previously in hands of PLN's members that were expel from the party for ethical questionings and were nominated by local parties, among them former presidential nominee Johnny Araya. [4] Social Christian Unity Party was recorded as the real winner as it increase its number of mayors passing from 9 to 15.
The National Liberation Party, nicknamed the verdiblancos, is a political party in Costa Rica. The party is a member of the Socialist International.
The Social Christian Unity Party is a centre-right political party in Costa Rica.
Ruling Citizens' Action Party was unable to take advantage of its position as government and only achieve one more mayor than previously. In several cantons the party went in alliance with local forces and the Broad Front.
The Citizens' Action Party is a center-left political party in Costa Rica.
The Broad Front is a left-wing political party in Costa Rica, the main component of the front is the Alternative of the Lefts Movement. They are defined by progressive, socialist, green, social justice, human rights and democratic ideas. Member of the Foro de Sao Paulo, part of the international Latin American Left Movement of democratic socialism.
Two new parties succeed in having new mayors; New Generation Party was a particular surprise as the party was the fourth in number of mayors winning in 3 cantons even though the party does not have parliamentary representation and received very few votes in the presidential ballot. While former president Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier’s new Social Christian Republican Party won Vazquez de Coronado. Leftist Broad Front took part in the elections mostly in alliance with PAC and local forces winning in Montes de Oca and Acosta in that way and in one, Barva, completely alone. Local parties 21st Century Curridabat and Escazu's Progressive Yoke also won in Curridabat and Escazu respectively.
New Generation Party is a liberal political party in Costa Rica. The party was founded in 2012 in order to partake in the 2014 general election. The party defines itself as a political organization directed toward young people. It also describes itself as "centrist" and pragmatic in economic policy.
Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier served as President of Costa Rica from 1990 to 1994. He was the presidential candidate of the Social Christian Unity Party for the national elections held in February 2010, but resigned his candidacy on 5 October 2009, when he was sentenced to five years in prison for two counts of corruption.
The Social Christian Republican Party is a Costa Rican political party founded in 2014 by former president Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier and his group of supporters as a splinter from the historical Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC). The party also uses the colors and a similar name of Calderón's father's party, the National Republican Party.
