General elections were held in
Costa Rica
Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...
on 3 February 2002.
Dieter Nohlen
Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An ex ...
(2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I'', p155 For the first time in the country's history, no candidate in the presidential election passed the 40% threshold.
[Nohlen, p. 150.] This meant a second round of voting had to be held on 7 April which saw
Abel Pacheco
Abel Pacheco de la Espriella ( ; born 22 December 1933) is a Costa Rican politician who was president of Costa Rica between 2002 and 2006, representing the Social Christian Unity Party ''(Partido Unidad Social Cristiana'' – PUSC). He ran on ...
of the
Social Christian Unity Party
The Social Christian Unity Party () is a centre-right political party in Costa Rica.
PUSC considers itself a Christian-democratic party and, as such, is a member of the Christian Democrat Organization of America (ODCA). It was founded in 1983 by ...
defeat the
National Liberation Party's Rolando Araya Monge.
Many analysts consider this election the beginning of the end of Costa Rica's decades-long
two party system
A two-party system is a political party system in which two major political parties consistently dominate the political landscape. At any point in time, one of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually referre ...
.
For the first time in many years alternative political forces become really relevant in the Parliament and the plenary had three large party groups;
PUSC (19),
PLN (17) and
PAC
Pac or PAC may refer to:
Aviation
* IATA code PAC Albrook "Marcos A. Gelabert" International Airport in Panama City, Panama
* Pacific Aerospace Corporation, New Zealand, manufacturer of aircraft:
** PAC 750XL
** PAC Cresco
** PAC CT/4
** PA ...
(14).
While PUSC won the presidential election and the majority in Congress, PLN became the primal opposition force in Parliament.
Centre-left
Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commo ...
PAC with a
progressive proposal seem to had gravely affected traditional third forces at the left of the spectrum like
Democratic Force that fail to win any seat on that election even when for some years was Costa Rica's main third party.
Right-wing
Libertarian Movement also increases its representation from one to six deputies
while
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
Costa Rican Renewal Party
The Costa Rican Renewal Party () is a Christian political party in Costa Rica.
History
Established in 1995, as a splinter of the National Christian Alliance, the party first participated in national elections in 1998, when its presidential candi ...
won one seat as usual.
It was the first time in Costa Rica an
evangelical Christian
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...
party, the Christian National Alliance, nominated a
catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
,
biologist
A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...
and professor
Marvin Calvo Montoya
Marvin Gerardo Calvo Montoya ( Santa Bárbara, Costa Rica, February 4, 1961) is a biologist
A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (bio ...
, as its presidential candidate. It was also the last presidential election of the Christian National Alliance.
Despite the close contest, voter turnout was only 69% on 3 February the lowest since the
1958 elections
The following elections occurred in the year 1958.
Africa
* 1958 French Togoland parliamentary election
* 1958 Nigerien Constituent Assembly election
* 1958 South African general election
* 1958 Southern Rhodesian general election
* 1958 Sudanese ...
. For the second round of the presidential elections it fell to 60%, the lowest since
1949
Events
January
* January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025
* January 2 – Luis ...
.
[Nohlen, pp. 156–157.]
Background
Before the election, the country's Supreme Electoral Tribinal attempted to make several reforms to the electoral system. These included allowing
independents to run in local elections, using electronic voting machines, allowing Costa Ricans living abroad to vote, and allowing voters to choose the top two places on parliamentary lists.
[ However, the changes were rejected by the Legislative Assembly, which noted that independent candidature was incompatible with the constitution, and that electronic voting could not be guaranteed to be secure or transparent.][
]
Results
President
By province
First round
Second round
Parliament
By province
See also
*2002 Costa Rican municipal elections
Municipal and local elections were held for the first time in Costa Rica on 1 December 2002. This was the first time citizens of the 81 cantons were able to directly choose their mayors as previously the municipal executive was appointed by the ci ...
References
{{Costa Rican elections
Costa
Costa may refer to:
Biology
* Rib (Latin: ''costa''), in vertebrate anatomy
* Costa (botany), the central strand of a plant leaf or thallus
* Costa (coral), a stony rib, part of the skeleton of a coral
* Costa (entomology), the leading edge of th ...
General
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry.
In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
Parliamentary elections in Costa Rica
Presidential elections in Costa Rica