Religion-Politics Mix Marks Tight Presidential Runoff in Costa Rica.
| Autor | Rodriguez, George |
In an environment polarized along religion, gender issues, and interpretation of traditional values, Costa Rica's voters are getting ready to cast their ballots in a tight presidential runoff on April 1 between a conservative former Evangelical opposition congressman and a progressive former labor minister of the governing party.
The two contenders share a last name--they are no relation, though--and a profession, but they represent the two strikingly different ideological choices.
Fabricio Alvarado, 42, and Carlos Alvarado, 38, two former television reporters, are the candidates respectively of the rightist evangelical Partido Restauracion Nacional (National Restoration Party, PRN) and the center-left, ruling Partido Accion Ciudadana (Citizen Action Party, PAC) (NotiCen, Jan. 25, 2018, and Feb. 15, 2018).
For decades, the two dominant political forces in Costa Rica--the social democratic Partido Liberacion Nacional (National Liberation Party, PLN) and the Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (Social Christian Unity Party, PUSC)--dominated the political scene. Through elections, they took turns at the presidency and shared, in varying percentages, most of the 57 seats in the Asamblea Legislativa, the country's single-chamber parliament, with a few minority parties having scarce legislative representation.
All that began to change in 2002, when the PAC positioned itself as Costa Rica's third political party, after the PUSC, the winner that year, and the PLN. The PAC managed to beat PLN in the 2014 presidential runoff, and is now aiming at a second consecutive term, with neither traditional force taking part in second-round vote (NotiCen, Feb. 15, 2018).
A poll released on March 6 by the research center Centro de Investigacion y Estudios Politicos (CIEP) at the Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR) predicts a tight runoff contest between the two candidates. Less than a month before the decisive vote, the two contenders are virtually tied, with the PAC ahead with 41%, followed by the PRN with 39%, a difference well within the 3.1% margin of error.
Unlike previous elections, where campaign debates were related to the economy, security, and social issues, voters this year seem to be focused on religious beliefs, gender topics, and interpretation of traditional values.
During his tenure as the only PRN congressman (he was elected in 2014), Fabricio Alvarado maintained his stern stand against same-sex marriage, adoption by same-sex couples, in vitro...
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