QCOSTARICA – A week after voting took place, legislator Carolina Hidalgo accepted the defeat in the convention for the Partido Accion Cuiadana (PAC), with a speech minutes after the party announced the final results of the election Monday night.
Hidalgo gave her speech at the same time as the winning candidate, Welmer Ramos, who will lead the PAC party into the 2022 election cycle.
No common message was put forth.
In her speech, Hidalgo criticized what she called “a historic debt” of the PAC with women, who have not been able to access the party’s presidential candidacy.
Ramos obtained 48% of the votes, one percentage point more than Hidalgo, thanks to 150 votes.
“Welmer Ramos González is the PAC’s presidential candidate in the national elections. He is the political person in charge of leading the Party towards the electoral victory in February and the one in charge of building the bridges,” said Hidalgo.
She accepted the defeat despite the fact that during the counting process her campaign sowed doubts about the votes of the provinces of Puntarenas and Guanacaste, which finally made a difference.
“We won five provinces, 60% of the polls and most of the cantons throughout the country, and that is thanks to you and your work,” she said.
“After a detailed manual scrutiny, this internal convention comes to an end. We are democrats, we respect legal channels, due process and the popular will,” she added.
Debt to women
Hidalgo, however, regretted the fact that the party has still not chosen a woman as a presidential candidate.
“Far as I am from any desire for leadership, it is clear that in the PAC the time has not yet come for a woman to run for the presidency,” she said reading per prepared speech.
“After 21 years of existence (of the party), it will continue to have a historical debt to all women. Epsy Campbell* didn’t, and I didn’t. However, I know that the time will come when we will have a woman as a candidate for the Presidency,” lamented the legislator.
“It will not be easy, because for us (women) it is never easy, but that day will come. And the debt that the Party owes to women will be paid,” she continued in her speech.
Party unity
The legislator reiterated the fact that the party will have to join the electoral campaign in search of a new success in the national elections.
“The tight electoral result shows that neither campaign will be able to walk without the other. We all need each other, to understand each other and dialogue from empathy, humility and intelligence. There is no one leftover at the PAC and each person matters,” she said.
In recent days it was rumored that Hidalgo’s campaign was candidates for legislators from influencers in the outcome of the internal vote. The campaign denied it, although there were many that indicated that this was the case.
“Welmer will have the responsibility to defend the legacy of 8 years of government (Luis Guillermo Solis administration 2014-2018 and Carlos Alvarado administration 2018-2022) and two decades of legislative and municipal action, while he carries out a sensible self-criticism in the areas where we have failed. I trust that he will be able to make the balance,” said Hidalgo.
*Epsy Campbell, one of the founders of the PAC, sought the party nomination for president in 2014. She has been the First Vice-President of Costa Rica since 8 May 2018.
