National Liberation Party presidential primary, 2017

National Liberation Party presidential primary, 2017
Turnout	431,438
Previous Presidential Candidate; Johnny Araya ;	Presidential Candidate; Antonio Álvarez Desanti ;

Last updated April 26, 2019

Costa Rica's National Liberation Party presidential primary (or Convención Nacional “National Convention”) is a primary election programmed for April 2nd, 2017 in order to choose the party's presidential nominee for the Costa Rican general election, 2018. PLN is currently the main opposition party to Luis Guillermo Solís' government. In case no candidate reaches the 40% of the votes a second round will be held on June among the two more voted candidates. Something that hasn't ever happen before.^[2]

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.

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

After rumors of former president and Nobel Prize laureate Oscar Arias running for re-election, Arias made public during a television chain on September 19, 2016, that he would not run for the presidency again expecting to promote new and younger leaderships. Former president José María Figueres, on the other hand, made official his intentions to be nominated.^[3] This despite ethical questionings about the ICE-Alcatel corruption scandal he was involved in during his previous presidency.

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 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.

President of Congress and former minister Antonio Alvarez Desanti quickly followed him announcing his candidacy on November 10.^[4] Desanti was endorsed by Arias himself, his brother Rodrigo and for San José Mayor and previous PLN nominee Johnny Araya. Desanti's presidential aspirations are not new, as he already tried to be candidate in the 2001 presidential primary, losing to Rolando Araya, and also was candidate by his self-made party Union for Change in the 2006 general election.

San José (canton) Canton in San José, Costa Rica

San José is the first canton in the province of San José in Costa Rica. The canton covers an area of 44.62 km² and has a population of 288,054. It includes the national capital city of San José.

The Union for Change is a political alliance in Guinea-Bissau.

Other minor candidates also appeared, including former deputy for Limon Clinton Cruickshank and private lawyer Enrique Franco,^[5] but both of them withdraw from the race arguing lack of funds. Other candidates like current deputy and radio host Rodolfo Gonzalez and former deputy and physician Sigifredo Aiza did continue their campaign.

Limón is one of seven provinces in Costa Rica. The province covers an area of 9,189 km², and has a population of 386,862.

Results

Voter's turnout was 431 438, a considerably lesser amount than in the last primary (550.000). The first results showed Desanti ahead with 45% of votes, followed by Figueres.^[6] González and Aiza acknowledge the results immediately.^[6] Surprisingly the Party's Electoral Tribunal suspended the airing of results at midnight claiming that the counting will continue in the morning.^[6] At the same time Figueres and Desanti had a heated discussion on national television as Figueres claimed that data from his campaign show him as the winner and that such result will be "cleared in the morning". Desanti then warned that Figueres' campaign could attempt voters' fraud.^[6] The next morning around noon Figueres did recognize defeat and congratulates Desanti who claimed victory. ^[6]

Popular Vote

Antonio Álvarez			45.56%
José María Figueres			37.91%
Rodolfo González			9.49%
Sigifredo Aiza			7.03%

Controversies

During one of the debates organized by the State's network Channel 13 the candidates, unaware that the microphones were already open, discuss the subjects of the debate. Desanti suggest attacking PAC (governing party and PLN’s main rival) to what Figueres agrees, whilst Aiza admits that the government “is not that bad”.^[7]

Canal 13 is a public Costa Rican television channel, owned and operated by Sistema Nacional de Radio y Television S.A. (SINART).

Opinion polls

Date	Source	Antonio Álvarez Desanti	José María Figueres	Rolando González	Sigifredo Aiza	None
September-October, 2016	Enfoques de Opinión^[8]	15%	38%	-	8%	-
November, 2016	Cid Gallup^[9]	35%	44%	-	-	18%
November, 2016	Cid Gallup^[9]	-	23%	15%	-	59%
November, 2016 (Party members, without Desanti)	Cid Gallup^[9]	-	49%	12%	-	32%
February, 2017	OPol Consultores	42%	26%	3%	2%	27%
March, 2017	Demoscopia^[10]	45,4%	19,8%	6%	3,1%	-

Related Research Articles

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References

↑ Alvarado, Jose (2016). "¡Qué rápidos! Convención del PLN será el 2 de abril de 2017" (in Spanish). La Prensa Libre. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
↑ Arrieta, Esteban (2017). "Segunda ronda costaría más de ¢40 millones a precandidatos del PLN" (in Spanish). La República. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
↑ Ruiz, Gerardo (2016). "José María Figueres será precandidato del PLN para el 2018" (in Spanish). La Nación. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
↑ "Antonio Álvarez anuncia precandidatura por el PLN, en su tercer intento por llegar a la Presidencia" (in Spanish). La Nación. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
↑ Mata, Esteban (2016). "21 hombres y una mujer tientan la presidencia para el 2018" (in Spanish). AM Prensa. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
1 2 3 4 5 "Álvarez Desanti maintains in Liberation primary; late-night vote-counting drama". Tico Times. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
↑ Redaccion. "Viral: Micrófono de Canal 13 queda abierto y vea lo que dijo Desanti" (in Spanish). La Prensa Libre. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
↑ "Encuestas ponen a Figueres como candidato pero no como presidente". Noticias Costa Rica. 2016.
1 2 3 "Estudio Opinión Pública" (PDF). 2016.
↑ Madrigal, Luis Manuel (2017). "Álvarez Desanti supera en 25 puntos a Figueres Olsen en intención de voto para convención del PLN". Mundo.

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[1] Alvarado, Jose (2016). "¡Qué rápidos! Convención del PLN será el 2 de abril de 2017" (in Spanish). La Prensa Libre. Retrieved 15 March 2017.

[2] Arrieta, Esteban (2017). "Segunda ronda costaría más de ¢40 millones a precandidatos del PLN" (in Spanish). La República. Retrieved 16 March 2017.

[3] Ruiz, Gerardo (2016). "José María Figueres será precandidato del PLN para el 2018" (in Spanish). La Nación. Retrieved 15 March 2017.

[4] "Antonio Álvarez anuncia precandidatura por el PLN, en su tercer intento por llegar a la Presidencia" (in Spanish). La Nación. Retrieved 15 March 2017.

[5] Mata, Esteban (2016). "21 hombres y una mujer tientan la presidencia para el 2018" (in Spanish). AM Prensa. Retrieved 15 March 2017.

[Tico_Times-6] 1 2 3 4 5 "Álvarez Desanti maintains in Liberation primary; late-night vote-counting drama". Tico Times. Retrieved 3 April 2017.

[7] Redaccion. "Viral: Micrófono de Canal 13 queda abierto y vea lo que dijo Desanti" (in Spanish). La Prensa Libre. Retrieved 15 March 2017.

[Noticias-8] "Encuestas ponen a Figueres como candidato pero no como presidente". Noticias Costa Rica. 2016.

[Estudio-9] 1 2 3 "Estudio Opinión Pública" (PDF). 2016.

[Mundo2-10] Madrigal, Luis Manuel (2017). "Álvarez Desanti supera en 25 puntos a Figueres Olsen en intención de voto para convención del PLN". Mundo.

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See also: Elections in the Federal Republic of Central America