An economic recession, a teachers' strike due to a pensions' reform and some corruption scandals made
PresidentJosé María Figueres' government highly unpopular. Thus, government endorsed candidate
José Miguel Corrales tried to distance himself from Figueres as much as possible. Corrales won over former
President of Congress Jorge Walter Coto Molina in PLN's primaries but the discovery of
Voter fraud damaged PLN's image and split the party.[3] On the contrary in PUSC, previous candidate
Miguel Ángel Rodríguez was seen as the natural nominee for this election, and despite the fact that deputy
Luis Fishman was rumored as a possible internal opponent, he finally declined and Rodríguez was nominated without the need of primaries, thus keeping the party united. During Figueres' administration the so call Figueres-Calderón Pact was signed between the leaders of the two main parties (and sons of the two caudillos of the
1948 civil war); him and
Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier (Rodríguez political rival) to approve several mutually beneficial laws for both major parties, something that caused outrage among large segments of the population and started the downfall of the
two-party system.[4]
An economic recession, a teachers' strike due to a pensions' reform and some corruption scandals made
PresidentJosé María Figueres' government highly unpopular. Thus, government endorsed candidate
José Miguel Corrales tried to distance himself from Figueres as much as possible. Corrales won over former
President of Congress Jorge Walter Coto Molina in PLN's primaries but the discovery of
Voter fraud damaged PLN's image and split the party.[3] On the contrary in PUSC, previous candidate
Miguel Ángel Rodríguez was seen as the natural nominee for this election, and despite the fact that deputy
Luis Fishman was rumored as a possible internal opponent, he finally declined and Rodríguez was nominated without the need of primaries, thus keeping the party united. During Figueres' administration the so call Figueres-Calderón Pact was signed between the leaders of the two main parties (and sons of the two caudillos of the
1948 civil war); him and
Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier (Rodríguez political rival) to approve several mutually beneficial laws for both major parties, something that caused outrage among large segments of the population and started the downfall of the
two-party system.[4]