Costa Rica - Election 2010
Costa Rica is a constitutional democracy with a population of approximately 4.5 million and governed by a president and a unicameral Legislative Assembly that are directly elected in multiparty elections every four years. On February 7, Laura Chinchilla Miranda of the National Liberation Party (PLN) was elected the country's first female president in elections that were generally considered free and fair. Security forces reported to civilian authorities.
The following human rights problems were reported: substantial judicial process delays (particularly in pretrial detention and civil, criminal, and labor cases), domestic violence against women and children, child prostitution, trafficking in persons, and child labor.
In national elections held on February 7, Laura Chinchilla Miranda of the PLN won the presidency and became the country’s first female president in elections that generally were considered free and fair. The Organization of American States team that monitored the election praised the peaceful and normal way in which the process unfolded.
The 2010 elections were the first to be held under the new Electoral Code passed by the Legislative Assembly on 29 July 2009. It notably reduced the amount of State funding for elections. By the next general election (due in 2014) Costa Rica will introduce absentee voting and a 50 per cent quota for women in the Legislative Assembly up from the current 40 per cent.
In the previous elections held in February 2006 the National Liberation Party (PLN) of President Oscar Arias won 25 of the 57 seats in the Legislative Assembly. The Citizens' Action Party (PAC) which had endorsed Ottón Solís as its presidential candidate took 17 seats. The Liberty Movement (PML) and the Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC) won six and five seats respectively while four small parties took one seat each. President Arias narrowly won over Solís in the presidential elections.
In a referendum held in October 2007 voters narrowly approved the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with the United States. President Arias' PLN had advocated approval of the pact while the PAC had opposed it. In November 2008 Costa Rica and China launched talks on a possible free trade agreement. In 2009 the country experienced its first recession in 27 years due to the global economic crisis. However the economy was expected to recover in 2010.
Prior to the 2010 elections President Arias who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 announced that he would retire from politics when his term ended in May 2010. In June 2009 the PLN elected the then Vice President Ms. Laura Chinchilla as its presidential candidate. The PLN pledged to continue President Arias' pro-business policies by expanding free trade pacts. Ms. Chinchilla promised more public spending to guarantee security.
The PAC's presidential candidate Solís pledged to review the terms of the CAFTA to protect the country's small farmers. The PAC claimed that the PLN government was incompetent arguing that it had failed to reduce poverty despite having sufficient resources. Solís argued that Arias would continue to manage the country via Ms. Chinchilla. The PML which endorsed Otto Guevara as its presidential candidate pledged to combat crime by introducing stiffer jail terms. Guevara promised to clamp down on wasteful spending in public health care and slash bureaucracy.
69.08 per cent of the 2.6 million registered voters turned out at the polls. The final results gave 24 seats to the PLN and 11 to the PAC. The PML and the PUSC took nine and six seats respectively. The Accessibility Without Exclusion (PASE) party which had won one seat in the 2006 elections increased its share to four seats. Three small parties took one seat each.
Chinchilla won the presidential elections with over 46 per cent of the votes becoming the first woman in Costa Rica to assume the post. She called on the PAC and the PML to join her government to solve the nation's problems. On 1 May the newly elected Legislative Assembly held its first session and elected Luis Gerardo Villanueva Monge (PLN) as its new Speaker.
Political parties operated without restriction or outside interference. The constitution and the electoral code establish the right of all citizens to organize themselves in parties to participate in national politics. The internal structure and operation of parties should be democratic according to the law.
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) requires that a minimum of 50 percent of candidates for elective office be female and that women's names be placed alternately with men on the ballots by party slate. In August the TSE reported that 49 percent of the candidates running for office in the December local government election were women. There were nine women in the cabinet. There were 22 women in the 57-seat Legislative Assembly, including the vice president of the assembly, the government party leader, and nine legislative committee chairwomen, representing 38.6 percent of seats. The deputy chief justice of the Supreme Court, the presidents of the High Court of Civil Appeals and the Constitutional Chamber were women.
Indigenous persons did not play significant roles in politics or government except on problems directly affecting their welfare, largely because of their relatively small numbers and physical isolation by their own preference. There were no indigenous or black members in the Legislative Assembly or the cabinet. There was one black head of a government agency.
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