Costa Rica: Last-Ditch Leftwing Alliance to 'Save' the Country

[arcos]

(IPS)-Political forces on the left in Costa Rica have formed a partial last-minute alliance to support Ottón Solís, the presidential candidate for the centre-left Citizens' Action Party (PAC), in a bid to counter the conservative lead that the polls predict for the upcoming Feb. 7 elections.

The governing National Liberation Party (PLN) has a lead over the opposition Libertarian Movement (ML) that has narrowed to 10 percentage points, but pollsters say it is unlikely that any candidate will take 40 percent or more of the vote, the minimum required to win outright without a run-off election.

The goal of the last-minute leftwing alliance is either to boost Solís into second place in the presidential race, or for him to amass enough supporters to be able to tip the scales if there is a second round between the frontrunners, which would take place Apr. 4, and so exert pressure to neutralise key aspects of the conservative agenda.

PLN candidate Laura Chinchilla has the support of 41 percent of respondants in the latest polls, but ML presidential hopeful Otto Guevara has increased his share to 30 percent. Only 14 percent of respondents say they intend to vote for Solís.



Formally, the governing PLN is a social democratic party, but it has veered to the centre-right, according to political analysts and dissident PLN sectors, while the ML and its candidate Guevara are openly on the far right of the political spectrum. They propose to limit the role of the state to a minimum and unleash market forces to their fullest extent.



http://upsidedownworld.org/main/news-briefs-archives-68/2333-costa-rica-last-ditch-leftwing-alliance-to-save-the-country

[Judi Lynn]

1. Arcos, this is a creepy situation. Are the Nazi right-wingers taking over?

Your election is so close, too.

We'll be looking for info. on Costa Rica's coming election until February or April, now.

Do you have a good feeling about this, or is it looking ugly there?

Thanks for the information.

[arcos]

2. It's worrisome, and a bit creepy...

The government's candidate is nominally "socialdemocrat" (just like the President), but they're pretty much to the right. She doesn't stand for anything at all, promising to continue just about every single policy the current administration has taken, and a lot of them haven't been popular... she's called "the puppet", most people assume that those who will really be in charge are Oscar Arias and his brother Rodrigo (current Chief of Staff, and who many people believe is REALLY in charge right now too). They have taken over every single branch of government and control every single institution, where their friends, donors and political allies get favors.

On the other hand there's Otto Guevara, running for the third time, as the Libertarian Movement candidate. He's a US-style Libertarian... when he first ran for the Legislative Assembly, he openly promoted policies that could have easily be taken out from any US LP document... abolishing the central bank, reducing taxes to the minimum, legalizing drugs, etc. He was elected in 1998, and ran for President in 2002 and 2006, each time moving more and more to the "center". He presents MUCH more moderate ideas now, but he is still way to the right of Costa Rica's tradition.

And then we have Ottón Solís, running for the third time too. He came very close to winning last time around, but people have grown really tired of him. His party refused to have an open convention to elect the candidate, and he easily won against two lesser known but much more exciting candidates, Epsy Campbell (a black former Congresswoman, feminist and economist) and Román Macaya (progressive businessman). Both are much more progressive on social issues such as gay rights and abortion, things that were previously a taboo. He also refused to form a coalition with other progressive, centrist and leftist parties and organizations, believing he had enough support all by himself. A lot of people have felt disenfranchised (including me) by his actions, and were seriously considering voting blank, or for other small parties which really had no chance.

It is, indeed, a desperate measure. But it has allowed him to regain a bit of the confidence the people had in him, and has been gaining a lot of support lately.

We'll see what happens. The campaign has been terrible, all candidates have made asses out of themselves, and the ads have been pathetic. People are really disgusted, and even though we are just 10 days away, lots of citizens are still undecided so... anything can happen! (as usual!)

[Judi Lynn]

3. Looks as if they really need that coalition. Hope they wake up, arcos.

The right is always good at marching lockstep to get control, at all costs, bust the rest of the world needs thoughtful communication, REAL and honest agreement to get things done.

Your run-down on the candidates is very much appreciated.