Presidential Results Will Be "Official" By End of Month; New Political Scenario Looming
Costa Rica’s new president will only be known at the end of February because the hand counting of ballots is estimated to take another three weeks, announced Wednesday the president of the Tirbunal Supremo de Elecciones (TSE), Oscar Fonseca..

“Originally we were counting on two weeks but I’m not so sure now; we’ll have to keep waiting to know who’s the next president”, said Fonseca who revealed that the electronic count with 327 voting stations (out of 6.163) pending showed Oscar Arias leading Ottón Solís with 3.868 votes.

“This is too tight a race, and therefore the hand counting which will be the only with electoral validity l”, stressed Mr. Fonseca.

The difference between the leading candidates former President Oscar Arias and economist Ottón Solís more to the centre, was only a quarter of a percentage.

But whoever is finally proclaimed winner of last Sunday’s general election, local analysts agree that Costa Rica will experience a new political scenario demanding intense negotiations to form a new government.

In the 57 legislative seats, with 84 percent of the votes counted, no single party has achieved a simple majority in Congress and forecasts are the next legislature will be divided into two large blocs.

The social-democratic Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN), which Arias belongs to, will probably have about 25 legislators, while the centrist Partido Acción Cuidadan (PAC), from Mr. Solis, 18, insufficient in both cases for a working majority.

The edge will belong to the opposition conservative Movimiento Libertario (ML), with 6 seats, led by Otto Guevara,  followed by the ruling Parito Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC), with 4. Four other small parties could end with one seat each.

Even when  Arias and Solis are almost tied, their legislative support is considerably different, 25 to 18. This according to political analyst Mauricio Castro can be attributed to Solis strong stand in some very sensitive issues such as rejecting the United States sponsored free trade agreement which has become highly controversial in Costa Rica.

This new Costa Rican political scenario will, contrary to a past of winning majorities, demand extreme negotiating talent and capacity from whoever is finally elected president anticipated Mr. Castro.