Pacheco Departed With Low Numbers
An CID-Gallup poll taken days before Abel Pacheco was to step down from the presidency gave him poor ratings. Only 23 per cent of respondents rate the president’s performance as good, down five points since December.

Pacheco - of the Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC) - was elected in a run-off in April 2002 with 58 per cent of the vote. On May 8, he officially stepped down after former president Óscar Arias Sánchez of the Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN) took office for the second time.

In the February presidential election, Arias received 40.92 per cent of all cast ballots, barely defeating Ottón Solis of the Partido Acción Ciudadan(PAC), who came in second with 39.80 per cent. PUSC candidate Ricardo Toledo finished fourth with 3.55 per cent.

To date, Costa Rica remains the only country that has not ratified the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Pacheco postponed debate on the trade deal, hoping that the Legislative Assembly would approve a series of bills related to the country’s fiscal system.

Polling Data

How would you rate the performance of Abel Pacheco as president of Costa Rica?

                     May 2006         Dec. 2005           Jul. 2005
Good           23%                  28%                     34%

Average      41%                  32%                     30%

Bad            35%                    40%                     35%


Source: CID-Gallup
Methodology: Interviews with 1,110 Costa Rican adults, conducted from Apr. 29 to May 4, 2006. Margin of error is 3 per cent.