Without having reached the necessary 40% of votes, Figueres (PLN) and Chaves (PPSD) will face each other in a new round on April 3
The premises of the polls are fulfilled in the Costa Rican elections held this Monday, the results of which force a second round to be held due to lack of sufficient support. To be elected you have to exceed 40% of the vote, but none of the candidates have reached that goal, as predicted. The candidate of the National Liberation Party (PLN, center-left), José María Figueres, has obtained 27.4% while he is followed in second position by Rodrigo Chaves, of the Social Democratic Progress Party (PPSD, center), with 16, 7%. Both will face each other in a second round on April 3 where, again, about 3.5 million citizens will be called to elect their president, two vice presidents and the composition of the Legislative Assembly.
The Latin American country is forced to hold a second round for the third consecutive election. A result marked perhaps by the level of abstention, which reaches 40.7%, the highest in the history of Costa Rica. The finds already showed a week before the elections that the undecided – the majority, young people between 18 and 34 years old – exceeded that figure. In an attempt to get closer to them, several candidates moved to the rhythm of TikTok, a digital video tool popular among the young population. Figueres published videos in which he drove a motorcycle, rapped and played soccer. On the other hand, Eli Feinzaig, of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), which harvests barely 2.5% of the voting intentions before the elections, viralized a recording on this social network in which he turns with his arms outstretched simulating a helicopter. A few days later, new polls showed that the indecision rates were falling, however, none of the applicants managed to take off.
Figueres, 67, has been pleased with the result obtained. “We won this first round by a robust margin and that also gives us a huge responsibility, so tomorrow we will continue the tireless work. The time we live in is extraordinary in many ways, it is a time of urgent challenges such as the tragedy of unemployment and poverty, the highest in decades”, the center-left candidate stressed. Likewise, he has recalled that he will fight for the rights of all people, and will support small, medium and large entrepreneurs to generate opportunities, employment and that the country “win again”.
“Relaunch Prosperity”
On the other hand, Chaves, 60, celebrated his move to the second round and thanked his family and voters for giving support to a newly created party. “We are going to a second round, yes, the new party, the youngest of this campaign, but we are going to leave behind the fires, the conflict, the sterile confrontation, and I beg you that together we create consensus to reorient the course of the country and relaunch prosperity”, he stated.
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