Close race in Costa Rica presidential elections

ISN SECURITY WATCH (Monday, 6 February: 13.17 CET) – According to preliminary results from Costa Rica’s election commission, former president and Nobel laureate Oscar Arias has a small lead in the race for president, news agencies reported.

With half the votes counted from the Sunday poll, Arias had 41 per cent compared to 40.2 per cent for his main rival, Otton Solis of the Citizens’ Action Party.

Arias needs at least 40 per cent of the vote to win outright and avoid a runoff in April.

Pre-election polls showed that Solis winning less than 25 per cent of the vote.

Election officials told reporters the vote had been peaceful, though voter turnout was lower than expected. Some media reports said the low turnout seemed to have stemmed from scandals involving three former presidents accused of taking illicit payments from foreign companies.

Arias backs the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with the US, while Solis would seek to amend parts of that agreement.

Costa Rica is the only country in the region that has not ratified the agreement, which is set to come into effect later this year.