Costa Ricans go to the polls this Sunday (6) to vote for a record number of candidates in a election presidential election that is unlikely to produce a winner in the first round.
None of the 25 presidential candidates is expected to win more than 40% of the vote, the threshold necessary to avoid a runoff, according to a survey published Tuesday by the Center for Research and Policy Studies at the University of Costa Rica. The election is expected to lead to a second round in early April.
The race to replace center-left president Carlos Alvarado after his four-year term is on, as about a third of the country’s voters Central American of about 5 million people haven’t decided who to support, polls say.
Costa Ricans say they want their next leader to tackle corruption and high unemployment as a priority during his four-year term.
Rosemary Chaves, who owns a small grocery store in Puntarenas, the most populous city in the Costa Rican Pacific, said that while there were many names on the ballots, none had credible proposals to combat unemployment. “A lot of people are upset,” she said.
The center-left ruling Ação Cidadã (PAC) party, which has been in power for two terms, had less than 1% support in the poll. Alvarado cannot run for a second consecutive term.
All 57 seats of the unicameral Legislative Assembly are also up for grabs. The assembly, among other responsibilities, must negotiate important financial support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Former president José Maria Figueres, who ruled from 1994 to 1998 under the centrist National Liberation party, has a provisional lead in opinion polls, with about 17% of the vote.
The poll showed former conservative vice president Lineth Saborio (2002-2006) of the center-right Christian Social Unity party (PUSC), with 13%, and evangelical preacher Fabricio Alvarado, of the neo-Pentecostal New Republic party, with 10 .3%.
Voting will close at 9:00 pm Brasília time, and the electoral authority must present its first report at 11:45 pm, also Brasília time.
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
