Manual Count Finished, TSE Still To Make "Official" Announcement of Winner While Arias Celebrates Victory
The Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones (TSE) yesterday announced the end of the manual vote count for the February 5 presidential elections, placing Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN), Óscar Arias ahead of Ottón Solís ofe the Partido Acción Ciudadana (PAC) by 18.371 votes.

However, Oscar Fonseca, president of the TSE, made it clear that there is still no "official" winner and a president will not be named until all the appeals and charges, especially those placed by the PAC, against the TSE have been resolved.

Fonseca said that possibly Monday the announcement would be made.

In the meantime, as the country waits for the "official" proclamation, Oscar Arias is being treated as the new president elect by the media and was guest to a number of high profile visitors at his home yesterday afternoon, all coming to offer their congratulations to the former president and Nobel Peace prize winner.

The TSE announced the end of the vote counting at 3:45pm local time yesterday, when all 6.143 voting station ballots had been counted,

The result of the count gave the Arias 664.528 votes and Solís 646.157. The results have not been declared official, but few doubt a reversal of votes once all the appeals have been settled.

"This has been a difficult time where we have learned a lot, not only for the Tribunal but for the politicians and the Costa Rican public" said Fonseca.

Fonseca added that the only task left of the TSE at this time is to make a proclamation of who will be next president on May 8.

"I thank the people of Costa Rica for their trust and give my gratitude for re-electing me 20 years later. Politics is about trust and if they have decided to return me to power in May it is because the balance of good things we did 20 years ago outweighs the bad and I will certainly focus on the good with this new vote of confidence."

It has been a hard campaign with 14 presidential candidates and humbly I tell all Costa Ricans that I will need the advice of all of them.

We said during our campaign that we will want a Costa Rica that moves ahead again and my gratitude is with the most humble of all Costa Ricans" were the words of Oscar Arias to the press last night.