Q COSTARICA — President Rodrigo Chaves said it. Legislator Pilar Cisneros has repeated it. And presidential candidate Laura Fernández has also mentioned it on several occasions.
The Chavismo, a political movement or stance in Costa Rica that aligns itself with the ideas of President Rodrigo Chaves, in addition to maintaining its government, is aiming to win 40 or more legislative seats in the 2026 elections.
Why do they want them?
The Costa Rican Legislative Assembly requires 38 (of the 57) votes—a clear majority—to pass significant reforms.
Pilar Cisneros, leader of the ruling party and an active member of presidential candidate Laura Fernández’s communications team, highlighted several key goals they aim to accomplish with the new majority of legislators for the 2026-2030 term.
“40 legislators is our dream; we don’t really know how many we’ll get. The more the better, it seems to me, because what we are convinced of is that this country needs major reforms and transformations, and all these major reforms and transformations require 38 representatives, so the more we have, the easier it will be,” she noted.
These reforms and transformations are intended to be made to the Supreme Court of Justice, the Comptroller General’s Office, and also to the Political Constitution.
“To name a few, we want to make changes to the Administrative Contracting Law, changes to the FEES, for example. I mean, it’s not that we want to stop giving money to universities, never, but to establish clear rules of the game about what they have to comply with, the accounts they have to provide, because now they don’t provide any accounts for anything; how it should be distributed, for example,” the legislator stated about some of the reforms.
Court and Comptroller’s Office
At the Supreme Court of Justice, some of the most important reforms Cisneros points out they would seek in the next four-year term include removing the Constitutional Court or Sala IV, as it is popularly known, the Organismo de Investigación Judicial (OIJ) —Judicial Investigation Agency—, and the Attorney General’s Office.
“Make them independent so they are not part of the Court. All of this requires 38 votes,” she responded.
This also applies to the election of magistrates, who serve for eight years and can be reappointed, if the Assembly supports them, for consecutive terms.
According to Cisneros, the maximum term magistrates should serve is 16 years; that is, only one reelection. However, candidate Laura Fernández proposes in her government plan a maximum term of 10 years.
“We need new blood, new people, people with a different mindset,” Cisneros stated.
Candidate Fernández also mentioned all of these issues during the presentation of her government plan.
Of the 22 current Full Court justices, 13 will expire between 2026 and 2030.
Cisneros mentioned the same change for the Comptroller General’s Office, where Marta Acosta has held the position since 2012 and was reelected in 2020. Her term will end in 2028.
“Why is the comptroller general going to stay for 30 years, 40 years in one position? I think that’s not healthy,” the legislator stated.
“So yes, indeed, we would implement, let’s say, drastic reforms,” she warned.
Introduce trusted people?
Replace the magistrates, the comptroller, and others whose terms are ending and appoint trusted people. That seems to be the mission Chavismo wants, and that’s why they require more than 38 legislators, because that way they wouldn’t need political negotiation and agreements with other political groups.
However, for Cisneros, it’s not a matter of appointing trusted people from Chavismo, but rather changing the mindset of the people who assume the positions.
“I’m not saying people the government trusts; I’m saying people committed to the country,” she responded, immediately affirming that for a long time, the two-party system governed this country and placed its own people in key positions.
“What was the problem when the two-party system, Liberación (PLN) and Unidad (PUSC), held 80% to 90% of all representatives for 50 years?” she asked.
“There was no problem then, neither for democracy, nor for the country, nor for anything. They did what they wanted, they molded this country in their image and likeness, and no one stopped to say, ‘Look, they’ve had 40, 45, 50 years of absolute dominance in the Legislative Assembly.’”
Cisneros also expanded on the reforms Chavismo wants for the country and why Chavismo needs an absolute majority in Congress: changing the referendum law is one of their objectives.
There’s also the possibility of consecutive presidential reelection, reiterating that they don’t want it indefinitely, but they do want a president to be able to serve two consecutive terms.
“If you have a good president, who has done a good job, why are you going to send him home?” the representative concluded.
Costa Rica has a unique stance when it comes to presidential re-election. The President of Costa Rica and the vice presidents are elected for a four-year term by the people. From 1969 to 2005, the president was barred from seeking reelection.
After the amendment banning reelection was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2005, an incumbent president became eligible to run again after waiting for at least eight years after leaving office.
Basically, it reflects the country’s history and the hard-earned lessons from past political battles in the region, to safeguard its democratic roots.