Costa Rica - Election 2002
Costa Rica is a longstanding, stable, constitutional democracy with a unicameral Legislative Assembly directly elected in free multiparty elections every 4 years. The presidential term of Miguel Angel Rodriguez of the Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC), who was elected in February 1998, ended on May 8 with the inauguration of Abel Pacheco de la Espriella, also of the PUSC. Pacheco was elected president during a second-round vote in April that was necessitated by the failure of any one candidate to obtain the constitutionally required 40 percent of the popular vote during the first-round election in February. The judiciary was generally independent.
The market economy was based primarily on light industry, tourism, and agriculture; the country's population was approximately 3.85 million. The Constitution protects the right to private property; however, domestic and foreign property owners encountered considerable difficulty obtaining adequate, timely compensation for lands expropriated for national parks and other purposes. The law grants substantial rights to squatters who invade uncultivated land, regardless of who may hold title to the property. Real gross domestic product (GDP) growth was estimated at 0.9 percent in 2001, compared with 1.7 percent in 2000. In October the official unemployment rate was 6.8 percent, the highest in 17 years. An estimated 21 percent of the population lived in poverty.
The Government generally respected the human rights of its citizens, and the law and judiciary provided effective means of dealing with individual instances of abuse; however, there were problems in a few areas. There were some instances of physical abuse by police and prison guards, and the judicial system processed some criminal cases very slowly, resulting in lengthy pretrial detention for some persons charged with crimes. Domestic violence was a serious problem, and traditional patterns of unequal opportunity for women remained, despite continuing government and media efforts to advocate change. Abuse of children also remained a problem, and child prostitution was a serious problem. Child labor persisted.
The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice through free and fair elections held on the basis of universal suffrage and by secret ballot every 4 years. The independent Supreme Electoral Tribunal ensured the integrity of elections, and the authorities and citizens respected election results. The Constitution bars the President from seeking reelection, and Assembly members may seek reelection only after at least one term out of office.
In the February elections, the failure of any one presidential candidate to win 40 percent of the popular vote necessitated a runoff election in April, which was won by Abel Pacheco of the Social Christian Union Party. PUSC candidates won 19 of the Legislative Assembly's 57 seats. The National Liberation Party won 17 seats; the newly formed Citizen's Action Party won 14 seats; the Libertarian Movement Party won 6 seats; and the Costa Rican Renovation party won 1 seat.
More than 2.3 million Costa Ricans were registered to go to the polls on 2 February 2002 to elect the President, two Vice-Presidents, 57 legislators and 81 heads of local government.
For the first time, a third-party candidate contested the presidential election in addition to the historical parties, the ruling Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC) and the National Liberation Party (PLN). The three campaigns focused on proposals to boost the coffee sector, a key export industry. The newly founded Citizen Action Party (PAC) fought the election on a populist platform, promising a crackdown on corruption and the introduction of protectionist economic policies. The PUSC candidate vowed to continue the free-market policies of outgoing President Rodriguez, while pledging to ensure a commitment to the poor through improved social spending. The PLN presidential candidate also came out against the privatisation of State-run industries.
Polling stations were quiet and orderly on the polling day. Authorities had urged voters to turn out in the hope of reducing the 30 per cent abstention level in the 1998 election. Nevertheless, the abstention rate for 2002 was even higher, reaching 31 per cent International observers from the Organization of American States (OAS) gave the balloting a very positive assessment, declaring that they had witnessed an exceptional day of civics which could serve as an example to all countries on the continent.
Results of the first round of the presidential elections gave Abel Pacheco, a 67-year-old psychiatrist, television commentator and novelist from the ruling Social Christian Unity Party a lead with 38.5 percent of the vote. Rolando Araya, a 54-year-old chemical engineer from the National Liberation Party, finished second with 30.9 percent. Otton Solis, 47, a PLN dissident running for the newly-created Citizen Action Party (PAC) scored 26 percent. Since no presidential candidate received the 40 per cent necessary to win the election outright, a runoff was held on 7 April 2002, the first in the country's 54-year, modern democratic history. The results of the run-off showed that Pacheco won the elections handily with 58 percent of ballots to Araya's 42 percent. The previously calm polling process was marred by violence as three supporters of President-elect Abel Pacheco, violently beat defeated presidential candidate Araya after the results were announced.
In the elections to the 57-seat Legislative Assembly, the ruling PUSC secured 19 seats, a net loss of eight seats, whereas the PLN suffered a net loss of six seats, winning 17. Impressive gains were made by the rightist Liberty Movement (PML), which increased its representation from one seat to seven, and by the Citizen's Action Party (PAC), which took 13 seats. On 1 May 2002, the Legislative Assembly held its first sitting and elected Rolando Laclé (PUSC) as its Speaker.
Women encountered no legal impediments to their participation in politics and were represented increasingly in leadership positions in the Government and political parties. To increase women's representation in government, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal required that a minimum of 40 percent of candidates for elective office be female and that women's names be placed accordingly on the ballots by party slate. The First Vice President (who is also a cabinet member), the Minister of Education, the Minister of Children's Welfare, the Minister of Economy and Industry, the Minister of Health, the Minister of the Presidency, and the Minister of Women's Affairs were women. There were 20 women among the Legislative Assembly's 57 deputies, and women held several prominent offices in the 3 largest political parties. The Foundation of Women Parliamentarians of Costa Rica promoted women's involvement in politics through informational meetings and public awareness campaigns and also worked for a number of social objectives, including the decentralization of government.
Indigenous people may participate freely in politics and government; however, in practice, they have not played significant roles in these areas, except on issues directly affecting their welfare, largely because of their relatively small numbers and physical isolation. They accounted for about 1 percent of the population, and their approximately 20,000 votes constituted an important swing vote in national elections. No member of the Legislative Assembly identified himself as indigenous.
There were three Afro-Caribbean members in the Assembly; one represented San Jose province and two represented the Caribbean province of Limon. The country's 100,000 Afro-Caribbeans, who mostly resided in Limon province, enjoyed full rights of citizenship, including the protection of laws against racial discrimination.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
