It took six months but finally the unusual election is over. Luis Guillermo Solís, one of the lesser known presidential candidates on Sunday triumphed to become the first Partido Acción Ciudadana (PAC) president.
Solís obtained more than million votes, representing almost 78% of the popular vote. His rival, the candidate for the Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN), Johnny Araya, drew 22% of the votes.
The final results are not expected to be much different from the preliminary results by the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones (TSE), after a day of voting that began at 6am and ended at 6pm.
Solís is the country’s 47th president.
The president-elect remained upbeat Sunday, ending his long day with his first speech after the results amidst the sea of flags, the sound of horns and the yelling of Costa Ricans who gathered in Rossevelt plaza in San Pedro.
“Thank you for trusting, not being afraid, to regain the illusion and walk together for the first in a long time”, were the first words of the president-elect.
In his speech to the cheering crowd, the new elected president said his administration will prioritize respect for nature, “no to animal abuse in Costa Rica”, and assured that the win is for all Costa Ricans and insisted that from now on the flag of Costa Rica is what identifies his government.
“I call on national unity, the sense of purpose that our founders wanted from the first head of state, there are no more divisions among us…that there is no conflict between us that divide the unity of the country…it is a time of change, of transformation, leaving the conflicts between us behind”.
