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Right of Center Win in Costa Rica’s Presidential Election

On Sunday, Costa Rica’s pro-free trade, pro-foreign investment center-right voters secured Costa Rica’s Presidential election for Laura Chinchilla and her Partido Liberación NacionaL (PLN).

Importantly, by personally securing these non-partisan votes, Ms Chinchilla bested the rest of the field and broke through her party’s ceiling to 46.78 %; a six-percentage point differential with the party’s result in the concurrently-run Congressional ballot. Voters have thus made sure that the President-elect can put into effect her convictions on social and economic development - premised in civil liberties, free-enterprise, and social justice.

The electoral results are also remarkable in (1) the whopping gain of 20% of votes for the Libertarians, the right-of-center party, (2) the fall from 39% to 25% for the pro-big government Partido Acción Ciudadana (PAC), and (3) the life support the electorate gave to the once-vibrant Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC) which had been in shambles despite having elected three presidents in the past two decades. The Libertarians dramatic ascent, which brings the percentage of voters for the center-right to over 67%, is also telling of both the electorate’s commitment to Costa Rica’s recent past of economic liberalization, a pro-business economic climate, and the deep-rooted respect for the country’s public health, public education, and social support institutions. With their ballots, the voters have confirmed their understanding that it is only through wealth creation that social and welfare programs can be supported.