Most ads are interactive -- click on them to visit the folks who make The Panama News possible

news

Also in this section:
Notable newsmakers of 2005
Martín appoints two longtime public employees to high court
Costa Rican presidential election season
Panama News Briefs

Costa Rica goes to the polls

It's non-stop TV ads from now until February 5 election

by A.M. Costa Rica

The political campaign took off again January 2 as candidates inundated television stations with their spots.

The day marked the end of the holiday truce that barred campaigning since December 16.

Now the gloves are off, and some parties that have not advertised in the past will be trying to deliver their message to voters. The television channels are showing up to four campaign ads during each prime time station break.

Candidates do not have a lot of time. The presidential election is February 5. Most politicians expect that the election will require a runoff between the top two vote-getters, who are likely to be Óscar Arias Sánchez of the Partido Liberacion Nacional and Ottón Solís of the Partido Accion Ciudadana. Arias is a former president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, while Solís ran unsuccessfully in the last presidential race.

The other candidates hope to attract enough votes to win seats for their slate of deputies and attract enough support so they are rewarded financially four years from now. Costa Rica provides campaign funds based on the percentage of the popular vote.

Among the smaller parties there is a growing stop Arias movement. Such parties only will have power in the legislature if there is no clear majority from a more established party.

Many of the new parties are groups who have fractured off the Solís’s Accion Ciudadana or Arias's Liberacion.

An Arias-Solís runoff would be a clear test of public opinion on the free trade treaty with the United States. Arias supports the treaty, and Solís does not.

Several legislative candidates for smaller parties are waging a one-issue campaign against the treaty hoping to attract enough votes to win a four-year job.