Costa Rica Is Set for a Run-Off Election Between Figueres and Chaves
Former President José María Figueres and former Minister of Finance Rodrigo Chaves are heading to a run-off election on April 3rd, 2022. Figueres, the National Liberation Party (PLN) nominee who won the first round with 27% support, was always the top-notch contender in the surveys leading to the February 6, 2022, vote. On the other hand, Chaves —who is running with a new party called Social Democratic Progress (PSD)— became the surprise candidate coming in second place but with more than 10% less support than Figueres.
Abstentionism was the highest it has ever been, reaching more than 40%, according to the latest election count by the Supreme Electoral Court of Costa Rica (TSE). In the coastal provinces of the country (Guanacaste, Puntarenas, and Limón), participation remained below 50%, while the urban regions (San José, Heredia, Alajuela, and Cartago) had an average participation of 56%. Because of this, and the high quantity of competitors for the Presidency (the ballot had 25 names), no candidate reached the 40% minimum needed to win in the first round.
This is the third election in a row that will be resolved by ballot because no candidate obtained 40% of the votes in the first round. This means that on April 3rd Costa Ricans will have to choose between two candidates whose combined supports on the first round didn’t even reach 50% of the valid vote. Actually, because participation was so low, the combined votes for Figueres and Chaves represent less than 25% of the electoral register — only one of four citizens with the right to vote chose one or the other on Sunday’s election.
READ MORE: A Guide to the 2022 Costa Rican General Election: All You Need to Know
All the other top candidates for the election already declared their loss and congratulated Figueres and Chaves. Alliances between the parties who lost the presidential election and PLN or PSD are sure to come in the next weeks. According to the latest count Fabricio Alvarado, from the New Republic Party (PNR), came in third with 14,8% support. Lineth Saborío (from the Social Christian Unity Party, PUSC) was fourth, with 12,4% of the valid vote. And Eli Feinzaig (from the Liberal Progressive Party, PLP) reached fifth place, with 12,3%.
The Legislative Assembly sheds its skin
While the presidential winner announcement is on hold until the April 3rd run-off election, the congressional elections don’t have a second-round, so yesterday’s results will inevitably define the conformation of the new Legislative Assembly, which will take office in May. There’s going to be notable changes in the Costa Rican Parliament, one of the most remarkable being that the Citizens’ Action Party (PAC), which has held the presidency during the last eight years, not only lost the Executive power but is also now nonexistent in the Legislative Assembly.
The current Legislative Assembly has representation from seven parties, of which only three will continue having deputies. There are three parties that didn’t have seats in Congress that now will. According to the latest count by the TSE, PLN will have the biggest parliamentary group with 19 representatives, followed by PUSC with 10. PSD will probably have 9 deputies, PNR 7, the Broad Front (FA), and PLP 6. This means that PLN and PUSC, the biggest fractions, could have a simple majority, and since they are the members of Costa Rican history of bipartisanship, they are likely to reach agreements on public policy.
READ MORE: Meet the Candidate: José María Figueres (PLN)
Both PLN and PUSC did better in the legislative election than in 2018. PLN could have two more deputies and PUSC could add one more. FA, on the other hand, could rise from one to 6 representatives in Congress, while PSD, PNR, and PLP will be newcomers to the Legislative Assembly. Only FA is a strictly left-wing party, while PLN is more center-left leaning, and the other parties are right-wing. These results are preliminary and have not yet been confirmed by the TSE.
Figueres and Chaves call for national reconciliation
After knowing the preliminary TSE results, both Figueres and Chaves gave flamboyant speeches in front of some of their supporters. The two candidates called for a national reconciliation, that allows the country to overcome its differences and build on what its citizens have in common. It is important to note that during the electoral campaign and during political debates these candidates didn’t attack each other so much, so there hasn’t been much of a polarization built around their rivalry yet.
“We are going to make this nation the winning country we all dream of, the one we deserve,” claimed Figueres on Sunday night. “From now on, the time to unite begins. It is time to build bridges and build on our coincidences. We will win if we do it together, leaving no one behind,” he added. The PLN candidate, who was President between 1994 and 1998, also stated that “the Costa Rican way to live well is based on respect, tolerance and the need to forge agreements.”
READ MORE: Meet the Candidate: Rodrigo Chaves (PSD)
On the other hand, Chaves asked the country to “leave behind the flashbacks, the conflict, the sterile confrontation, and I beg you to work together to create a consensus to reorient the course of the country and relaunch the prosperity of our people, to give better living conditions to the youth, with a promise of a better future.” The PSD nominee promised to “work as a team and move this country forward”, and lamented that “in this campaign, I have been attacked by a few, but very viciously.”
Chaves has been attacked because of sexual harassment accusations from former employees when he was a high-ranking senior official at the World Bank. Figueres has been attacked because of his work as President in the 90s and because he has been accused of receiving $900.000 from the French company Alcatel in the 2000s. They both claim their innocence.