Luis Guillermo Solis is expected to win the presidency in Costa Rica
Guillermo Solis is expected to win Sunday’s run-off election after Costa Rica’s ruling party candidate, Johnny Araya unexpectedly quit and abandoned his presidential campaign last…
Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera is the favored candidate for the Costa Rican presidential election. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Guillermo Solis is expected to win Sunday’s run-off election after Costa Rica’s ruling party candidate, Johnny Araya unexpectedly quit and abandoned his presidential campaign last month.
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Solís had a strong 40 percent lead in the last national poll published a month ago, which made his opponent, Johnny Araya of the National Liberation Party (PLN), to stop his campaign.
He stated that after weighing his chances it was only sensible to withdraw from the campaign.
Despite Johnny Araya’s withdrawal, Costa Rican law does not allow for candidates to drop out. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
”It is only prudent not to spend millions on publicity, meetings and other events. We will respect the constitutional provisions, but I will refrain from any electoral activity,” Araya told reporters.
But many people have said that Araya was affected with the shadow of President Laura Chinchillas unpopular administration and the corruption scandals the National Liberation Party is currently facing.
This action opened the way for Solis to be elected President on 6 April.
“From 1949 to the present, nothing like this has ever happened,” said Jose Carlos Chinchilla to Reuters, a political analyst and a director at the University of Costa Rica, predicting a resounding win for Solis. “The desire for change is absolute.”
However, Costa Rican law prohibits any of the two candidates in a runoff election from stepping aside. The candidates can quit from the race during the first round, but once entered into a second round, they are legally required to finish the process.
Araya, a former mayor of San José, will appear on Sundays ballot and technically, he can still win the election if his supporters are able to gather a simple majority.
But if Solis is indeed elected Sunday to a four-year term, he will face a divided Congress and struggle with growing government debt that totals more than half of Costa Rica’s gross domestic product.
