1986 Costa Rican general election

General elections were held in Costa Rica on 2 February 1986.[1] Óscar Arias of the National Liberation Party won the presidential election, whilst his party also won the parliamentary election. Voter turnout was 81.8%.[2]

1986 Costa Rican general election

2 February 1986 (1986-02-02)
Turnout	81.8%
Nominee Óscar Arias Sánchez Rafael Ángel Calderón Party PLN PUSC Home state Heredia San José Popular vote 620,314 542,434 Percentage 52.3% 45.8%
In green provinces won by Arias, in blue Calderón
President before election Luis Alberto Monge PLN Elected President Óscar Arias PLN
Legislative election
Party Leader % Seats ± PLN Óscar Arias Sánchez 47.8 % 29 -4 PUSC Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier 41.4% 25 +7 PU Rodrigo Gutiérrez Sáenz 2.7% 1 -3 AP Álvaro Montero Mejía 2.4% 1 New PUAC Juan Guillermo Brenes 1.1% 1 0 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

Costa Rica was under a strong two-party system at the time. The country was undergoing military tensions with neighboring Nicaragua due to the recently happened Sandinista Revolution and Nicaragua's dictator Daniel Ortega's fighting of the right-wing Contra rebel guerilla in its southern border disregarding the official limits and confronting Costa Rica's police and security forces. Such skirmishes left one policeman's death and several wounded and both countries at the edge of war. Whilst some people blamed former president Rodrigo Carazo for allowing the FSLN to operate in the Costa Rican northern territory against then dictator Anastasio Somoza, others resented President Luis Alberto Monge's hawkish behavior toward Sandinista Nicaragua and his support of the Contras.[3]

Former minister and deputy Oscar Arias faced former vice president Carlos Manuel Castillo in closed primaries. Castillo had the support of PLN's traditional leadership including former presidents and party's founders José Figueres Ferrer, Daniel Oduber Quirós and Luis Alberto Monge.[4] Arias was seen as a young, alternative candidate and the "underdog" in the election, but managed to earn the majority of votes and popular support.[4]

On the other side of the two-party system former Foreign Minister (under Carazo's administration) Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier, son of historical leader of Calderonismo Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia, was nominated by the Social Christian Unity Party, then main opposition force. This was Calderón's second attempt to win the Presidency.

During the campaign the topic of peace was central. Calderón tried to present himself as a hawk who felt no quarrels in facing Nicaragua militarily. Arias on the contrary tried to show himself as a man of peace and negotiator who would pacified the region. His slogan was "Paz para mi gente" (Peace for my People).[3] In fact, some analysts also saw Arias' position as a strong criticism of Monge, of his own party, and his hardline position. Monge and Arias would be political enemies ever since.[3]

PLN campaign also focused in showing Calderón as a man of war and remembering old historical periods, blaming Calderonism for the 1948 Civil War and the 1955 Somoza-endorsed Calderonistas' invasion attempt. The party even went so far as to show Calderón in a cartoon as a spoil kid ready for war wearing the clothing of Quico, a popular character from El Chavo del Ocho.[5]

Results

President

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Óscar Arias Sánchez	National Liberation Party	620,314	52.3
	Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier	Social Christian Unity Party	542,434	45.8
	Rodrigo Gutiérrez Sáenz	Peoples' Alliance¹	9,099	0.8
	Álvaro Eduardo Montero Mejía	United People	6,599	0.6
	Alejandro Madrigal Benavides	Christian National Alliance^es	5,647	0.5
	Eugenio Jiménez Sancho	Independent Party	1,129	0.1
Invalid/blank votes			31,078	–
Total			1,216,300	100
Registered voters/turnout			1,486,474	81.8
Source: Nohlen; Election Resources

¹ The People's Alliance was a coalition of the People's Vanguard Party and the Broad Democratic Front.

By province

Province	Arias %	Calderón %	Gutiérrez %	Montero %	Madrigal %	Jiménez %
San José	54.2	43.8	0.8	0.6	0.5	0.1
Alajuela	53.0	45.8	0.5	0.4	0.3	0.1
Cartago	54.1	44.3	0.5	0.4	0.5	0.1
Heredia	52.8	45.2	0.8	0.6	0.5	0.1
Puntarenas	48.2	49.2	1.2	0.7	0.5	0.1
Limón	42.4	54.0	1.7	1.1	0.7	0.1
Guanacaste	50.1	48.7	0.3	0.5	0.3	0.1
Total	52.3	45.8	0.8	0.6	0.5	0.1

Popular Vote National Liberation   52.3% Social Christian Unity   45.8% Peoples' Alliance   0.8% United People   0.6% Democratic   0.5% Independent   0.1%

Parliament

Popular Vote
National Liberation			47.8%
Social Christian Unity			41.4%
United People			2.7%
Peoples' Alliance			2.4%
Christian Nat. Alliance			1.7%
Cartago Agrarian Union			1.2%
Other			2.8%

Seats
National Liberation			50.87%
Social Christian Unity			43.85%
United People			1.75%
Peoples' Alliance			1.75%
Cartago Agrarian Union			1.75%

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	National Liberation Party	560,964	47.8	29	-4
	Social Christian Unity Party	485,860	41.4	25	New
	United People	31,685	2.7	1	-3
	Peoples' Alliance	28,551	2.4	1	New
	Christian National Alliance^es	19,972	1.7	0	New
	Cartago Agrarian Union Party	13,575	1.2	1	+1
	Independent National Republican Party	10,598	0.9	0	New
	General Union Party^es	4,402	0.4	0	New
	Alajuelense Democratic Action	4,324	0.4	0	-1
	Limonese Authentic Party	3,813	0.3	0	0
	Alajuelense Solidarity Party	3,604	0.3	0	New
	Independent Party	3,067	0.3	0	0
	National Democratic Party	2,054	0.2	0	0
Invalid/blank votes		43,854	–	–	–
Total		1,216,053	100	57	0
Registered voters/turnout		1,486,474	81.8	–	–
Source: TSE; Election Resources

By province

Province	PLN		PUSC		PU		AP		ANC		PRNI		PUG		Others
	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S
San José	49.5	10	40.3	9	3.4	1	2.9	1	1.9	0	0.8	0	0.6	0	0.6	0
Alajuela	49.9	5	42.0	5	1.2	0	1.3	0	1.1	0	0.6	0	0.1	0	3.9	0
Cartago	46.6	3	37.5	2	1.7	0	1.7	0	1.3	0	0.6	0	0.1	0	10.5	1
Heredia	48.3	3	42.1	2	4.1	0	2.5	0	2.1	0	0.8	0	0.1	0	-	-
Puntarenas	45.1	3	44.2	3	2.2	1	3.1	0	1.7	0	1.5	0	0.3	0	2.0	0
Limón	34.9	2	44.6	2	4.8	1	5.5	0	1.7	0	1.4	0	0.9	0	6.2	0
Guanacaste	47.6	3	45.6	2	1.4	0	0.8	0	2.5	0	1.7	0	0.3	0	-	-
Total	47.8	29	41.4	25	2.7	1	2.4	1	1.7	0	0.9	0	0.4	0	2.7	1

Ballot

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References

1. Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p155 ISBN 978-0-19-928357-6
2. Nohlen, p157
3. Rodríguez Vega, Eugenio. Costa Rica en el siglo veinte. EUNED.
4. Picado León, Hugo. "Proceso de selección de candid atos a presidente y diputados en el PLN y el PUSC (1990-2006)" (PDF). Proyecto OIR/OPAL.
5. Oconitrillo García, Eduardo. Cien años de política costarricense: 1902-2002, de Ascensión Esquivel a Abel Pacheco. EUNED.