The Economist takes on the challenges to be faced by Laura Chinchilla when she assumes as the first female president of the Central American country.
As with Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, she does not owe her victory to marriage to a politically prominent husband. Rather, she is a protégée of Óscar Arias, the outgoing president whom she served as vice-president and justice minister.
Laura Chinchilla, from “Liberación Nacional”, the party in power, was elected as president for the 2010-2014 term.
Chinchilla obtained 46.8% of the casted votes, followed by Ottón Solís with 25.1%. However, Costa Ricans didn’t favored Chinchilla so much in the Legislative Assembly, as her party obtained 23 seats out of a total 57. In her acceptance speech, Chinchilla anticipated that “her goal is now clear: negotiating with the rest of the participants”.
Laura Chinchilla, from the ruling government party, is the clear favorite to win the upcoming presidential elections in Costa Rica.
According to a CID-Gallup poll, Chinchilla, from the "Liberación Nacional" Party (PLN), would earn 45% of the votes, making her the outright winner in the presidential elections of February 2010.
If the most voted candidate failed to get more than 40% of the casted votes, the presidency would be decided in a second round (ballotage), between the two most-voted candidates.
Most Costa Ricans would prefer a leader with more traits of a CEO than those of a statesman.
Costa Ricans want their next president to be capable in business and administration, skillful in striking deals, in addition to having knowledge of economics. They want him to focus on the country's inner issues rather than its external ones.
These results are part of a survey conducted by the statistics school of the University of Costa Rica for business publication El Financiero, explains Mario Bermúdez in Elfinancierocr.com.
Analysis of the main weaknesses of the proposals from the main presidential candidates in the 2010 elections.
Playing the “devil’s advocate,” analyst Edgar Delgado set out to review the proposals of the Costa Rican presidential candidates, trying to find potential weaknesses in each proposal.
Proposals from Rafael Angel Calderón (PUSC), Laura Chinchilla (PLN), Ottón Solís (PAC), and Otto Guevara (Movimiento Libertario) were reviewed.
The sum of the expenses of the four main political parties in Costa Rica for the elections of February 2010 reached $45 million.
El Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN) spent $17 million and the Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC) reached $14 million while the Partido Acción Ciudadana (PAC) budget was almost $10 million. The election-related expenses for Alianza Patriótica was $5.6 million.