1998 Costa Rican general election

General elections were held in Costa Rica on 1 February 1998.[2] Miguel Ángel Rodríguez of the Social Christian Unity Party won the presidential election, whilst his party also won the parliamentary election. Voter turnout was 70%, the lowest since the 1950s.[3]

1998 Costa Rican general election

1 February 1998[1]

Presidential election

Candidate Miguel Ángel Rodríguez José Miguel Corrales Party PUSC PLN Popular vote 652.160 618,834 Percentage 46.9% 44.4%

Provinces won by Rodriguez in blue, Corrales in green

President before election José María Figueres PLN Elected President Miguel Ángel Rodríguez PUSC

Legislative election

Party Leader % Seats ± PUSC Miguel Ángel Rodríguez 41.2% 27 +2 PLN José Miguel Corrales Bolaños 34.8% 23 -5 FD Vladimir de la Cruz de Lemos 5.6% 3 +1 ML Federico Malavassi Calvo 3.1% 1 New PIN Walter Muñoz Céspedes 2.8% 1 New PRC Justo Orozco Álvarez 2.0% 1 New PALA Guido Octavio Vargas Artavia 1.2% 1 +1 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

An economic recession, a teachers' strike due to a pensions' reform and some corruption scandals made President José María Figueres' government highly unpopular. Thus, government endorsed candidate José Miguel Corrales tried to distance himself from Figueres as much as possible. Corrales won over former President of Congress Jorge Walter Coto Molina in PLN's primaries but the discovery of Voter fraud damaged PLN's image and split the party.[4] On the contrary in PUSC, previous candidate Miguel Ángel Rodríguez was seen as the natural nominee for this election, and despite the fact that deputy Luis Fishman was rumored as a possible internal opponent, he finally declined and Rodríguez was nominated without the need of primaries, thus keeping the party united. During Figueres' administration the so call Figueres-Calderón Pact was signed between the leaders of the two main parties (and sons of the two caudillos of the 1948 civil war); him and Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier (Rodríguez political rival) to approve several mutually beneficial laws for both major parties, something that caused outrage among large segments of the population and started the downfall of the two-party system.[5]

Results

President

Candidate	Party	Votes	%
Miguel Ángel Rodríguez	Social Christian Unity Party	652,160	47.1
José Miguel Corrales Bolaños	National Liberation Party	618,834	44.6
Vladimir De la Cruz De Lemos	Democratic Force	41,710	3.0
Walter Muñoz Céspedes	National Integration Party	19,934	1.4
Sherman Thomas Jackson	Costa Rican Renewal Party	19,313	1.4
Álvaro González Espinoza	Democratic Party	12,952	0.9
Federico Malavassi Calvo	Movimiento Libertario	5,874	0.4
Jorge González Martén	National Independent Party	4,218	0.3
Alejandro Madrigal Benavides	Christian National Alliance	3,545	0.3
Norma Vargas Duarte	United People	3,075	0.2
Rodrigo Gutiérrez Schwanhäuser	New Democratic Party	3,025	0.2
Yolanda Gutiérrez Ventura	Independent Party	1,377	0.1
Invalid/blank votes		43,715	-
Total		1,431,913	100
Source: Nohlen

Popular Vote Social Christian Unity   47.1% National Liberation   44.6% Democratic Force   3.0% National Integration   1.4% Costa Rican Renewal   1.4% Democratic   0.9% Libertarian Movement   0.4% Other   1.0%

Parliament

The country was for the time still under a heavy two-party system dynamics[6][7][8] and the two main parties at the time; National Liberation Party and Social Christian Unity Party won most of the votes. Nevertheless, some third forces also won seats on the Parliament, among them left-wing Democratic Force won two seats. It was also the first time that liberal Libertarian Movement and Christian conservative[9] Costa Rican Renewal won seats (one each) in the Parliament both for their future presidential candidates Otto Guevara and Justo Orozco respectively. The small party National Integration Party led by medic Walter Muñoz won its only seat in history for Muñoz himself.

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/-
Social Christian Unity Party	569,792	41.2	27	+2
National Liberation Party	481,933	34.8	23	-5
Democratic Force	79,826	5.8	3	+1
Movimiento Libertario	42,640	3.1	1	New
National Integration Party	34,408	2.5	1	New
Costa Rican Renovation Party	27,892	2.0	1	New
Democratic Party	17,060	1.2	0	New
Agrarian Labour Action Party	16,955	1.2	1	+1
United People	15,028	1.2	0	New
National Independent Party	12,794	0.9	0	0
Generaleña Union	12,583	0.9	0	0
New Democratic Party	12,476	0.9	0	New
National Rescue Party	9,588	0.7	0	New
Christian National Alliance	9,176	0.7	0	0
Cartago Agrarian Union Party	7,138	0.5	0	-1
Partido Agrario Nacional	7,497	0.5	0	-1
Alajuelense Democratic Action	6,614	0.5	0	0
Independent Party	6,025	0.4	0	0
Cambio Ya	2,223	0.2	0	New
Convergencia Nacional	2,197	0.2	0	0
Limonese Authentic Party	2,167	0.2	0	0
Cartago Agrarian Force	1,892	0.1	0	New
Independent Guanacaste Party	1,623	0.1	0	0
Invalid/blank votes	47,052	-	-	-
Total	1,430,579	100	57	0
Source: Nohlen

Popular Vote Social Christian Unity   41.2% National Liberation   34.8% Democratic Force   5.8% Libertarian Movement   3.1% National Integration   2.5% Costa Rican Renewal   2.0% Democratic   1.2% Agrarian Labour Action   1.2% United People   1.2% Other   7.0%

Seats Social Christian Unity   47.38% National Liberation   40.35% Democratic Force   5.26% Libertarian Movement   1.75% National Integration   1.75% Costa Rican Renewal   1.75% Agrarian Labour Action   1.75%

References

1. "February 1,Election Results - Costa Rica Totals". Election Resources. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
2. Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p155 ISBN 978-0-19-928357-6
3. Nohlen, pp156-157
4. Fernández, Oscar Costa Rica. La reafirmación del bipartidismo Revista Nueva Sociedad No.131, PP. 4-10
5. "Copia archivada". Archived from the original on 5 July 2013. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
6. Landsford, Tom. Political Handbook of the World 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
7. Landsford, Tom. Political Handbook of the World 2012. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
8. Greenspana, Eliot; Gill, Nicholas; O'Malley, Charlie; Gilsenan, Patrick; Perill, Jisel. Elecciones legislativas de Costa Rica de 2002. Frommer's Central America.
9. Lopez, Jaime (July 18, 2013). "Civic Groups Move Against Gay Marriage in Costa Rica". Costa Rica Star. Retrieved 13 March 2016.