Johnny Araya considering taking his case to Costa Rica’s highest court

(ICR Archive)

April 22^nd, 2015 (InsideCostaRica.com) Former National Liberation Party (PLN) presidential candidate, Johnny Araya said on Tuesday he and his legal team are considering taking his case to Costa Rica’s Constitutional Court after losing an appeal against his party’s decision to expel him for a period of four years.

An internal party “ethics tribunal” banned Araya from the party for a period of four years as punishment for his March, 2014 decision to effectively drop out of the run-off presidential race against Luis Guillermo Solis.  Araya had appealed the decision, but a party appellate tribunal upheld the decision this week.

“I will continue to participate in politics until the end of my life.  I will now discuss possible actions in other venues such as the Constitutional Court because here you have a very clear violation of fundamental rights – the right to political participation and the right to due process.  I have been severely punished and have been shown no respect for the basic rules of due process,” Araya told La Nacion.

Araya and his legal team would even consider filing a complaint before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, according to the report.

Background

Araya made the decision to effectively drop out of the April 5^th 2014 presidential run-off election on March 5th after numerous polls, including those conducted by CID-Gallup, all indicated that Araya was trailing significantly behind Solis amongst likely voters.

Johnny Araya “not only filled the National Liberation Party with shame, but also caused the greatest electoral defeat in the history of our party,” Alvaro Emilio Castro Garnier, president of the PLN’s ethics committee, said in an October 9^th , 2014 complaint filed with the party’s general secretary which led to the decision to banish Araya.

While under Costa Rican law, a candidate cannot officially drop out of a presidential run-off election, Araya ceased all campaign activity after his March 5^th announcement, effectively handing the election to Solis.  The final result was a landslide victory for Solis and the Citizen Action Party (PAC) who won the election with 78% of the vote, the worst defeat ever for a PLN candidate.

As part of Araya’s banishment from the party, he is prevented from having any political affiliation with the party or to run for any national or local appointment as a party member.  Araya said on Tuesday that he is not considering switching parties.

Araya served as mayor of San Jose between 1998 and 2013 before entering the 2014 presidential race.