QCOSTARICA – Former president José María Figueres Olsen, 67, and former Minister of Finance, Rodrigo Chaves Robles, 60, will face off in the second electoral round, to be held on April 3.
According to the 1:45 pm cut this Monday issued by the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones (TSE), Figueres and Chaves are the presidential candidates with the highest number of votes obtained, with 79.96% of the tables processed.
José María Figueres, of the Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN), had 27.9% of the votes, leading in San José, Alajuela, Cartago, Heredia and Guanacaste.
Meanwhile, Rodrigo Chaves, of the Partido Progreso Social Democrático (PPSD), obtained 16.6%, ahead of Fabricio Alvarado of the Partido Nuevo Republica (PNR), who obtained 14.93% of the votes counted.
Alvarado led the votes in Puntarenas and Limón, however, he did not obtain the necessary support to advance to the second electoral round, as did in the 2018 national elections, where President Carlos Alvarado (no relation) was elected.
The favored to be in the second round, Lineth Saborío, from the Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC), with 12.43%; Eli Feinzaig, of the Partido Liberal Progresista (PLP), with 12.21%; and José María Villalta, from the Frente Amplio (FA), with 8.68%.
Welmer Ramos, the candidate of the ruling Partido Acción Ciudadana (PAC), had just 0.7% of the votes. The party also did not obtain seats in Congress. In 2018 they obtained 10 legislators.
Abstentionism reached the highest historical figure of all national elections, with 40.36%. This phenomenon was even more serious in the coastal provinces: Guanacaste (47.7%), Puntarenas (51.1%) and Limón (49.41%), while in San José it was 36.7%, in Alajuela 37.8%, in Cartago 35.4%, and in Heredia 34.2%.
Figueres was President of Costa Rica between 1994 and 1998. Rodrigo Chaves Robles had a brief period of six months in the Ministry of Finance, in the current government of Carlos Alvarado.
“The result has been extraordinary, we are one step away from starting the rescue and transformation of Costa Rica, we won this first round by a robust margin,” said Figueres in a late night rally after leading in the polls since the first cut by the TSE before 9 pm Sunday.
Meanwhile, Rodrigo Chaves said: “Those with experience, commitment and good faith will be welcome (…) The press, I call on you to debate ideas in depth, ahead of the second round, in an equitable and balanced manner.”
