The 2013 presidential primary 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 ...

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 ...

was held on May 9, 2013, as part of the

2014 Costa Rican general election General elections were held in Costa Rica on Sunday, 2 February 2014 to elect a new president, two vice presidents, and 57 Legislative Assembly lawmakers. In accordance with Article 132 of the constitution, incumbent President Laura Chinchill ...

. The two main traditional factions of PUSC (

Calderonistas Calderonism or ''Calderonismo'' is a political and ideological doctrine of Costa Rica, which emerged in the 1940s under the leadership of caudillo Dr. Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia, before, during and after he was president with his National R ...

and Liberals) competed for the nomination. The competing parties were Costa Rica's Children's Hospital Dr. Rodolfo Hernández, and the lawyer, businessman, and former president of the

Costa Rican Social Security Fund The Costa Rican Social Security Fund () is in charge of most of the nation's public health sector. Its role in public health (as the administrator of health institutions) is key in Costa Rica, playing an important part in the state's national hea ...

Rodolfo Piza. This was PUSC's fifth primary election in its history and the first in twelve years. Hernández was nominated by the group “Calderonista Convergence”, close to former president

Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier (born 14 March 1949) was President of Costa Rica from 1990 to 1994. He was the presidential candidate of the Social Christian Unity Party for the national elections held in February 2010, but resigned his candida ...

who personally endorsed Hernández and followed the “Calderonism” (the historical ideology of 40's caudillo and Fournier's father

Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia (March 8, 1900 – June 9, 1970) was a Costa Rican medical doctor and politician, who served as President from 1940 to 1944. Early life Rafael Angel Calderón Guardia was born on 8 March 1900 in San José. In his ...

, a

Christian socialist A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words ''Christ'' and ''Chr ...

) whilst Piza was endorsed by the Social Christian Rebirth group, part of the more right-wing Liberal faction led by former president (and Fournier's rival) Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Echeverría. On this election Piza had the support of Dr.

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 ...

's faction including Pacheco himself and his prime minister Ricardo Toledo. Hernández won the primary by a

landslide victory A landslide victory is an election result in which the winning Candidate#Candidates in elections, candidate or political party, party achieves a decisive victory by an overwhelming margin, securing a very large majority of votes or seats far beyo ...

with 77% of the votes and nominates Piza as his

Vice-president A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

. Nevertheless, Hernández would resign his candidacy a few months later accusing the Party's leadership of treacheries and backstabbing. Piza took over the candidacy reaching only 6% of popular vote on the presidential ballot, but increasing its support for Congress to the point of duplicating its number of deputies.

References

{{Costa Rican elections 2013 in Costa Rica Primary elections in Costa Rica

See also

References