QCOSTARCA — Eugenia Zamora, president of the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones (TSE) – which serves as the Supreme Court of Elections and oversees the civil registry, found it necessary to once again address concerns raised about the TSE’s decisions.
On the last occasion, President Rodrigo Chaves himself implied that the magistrates who voted to uphold the exclusion of political parties failing to meet gender parity requirements were of a lesser caliber.
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After casting his vote on Sunday, Chaves identified as “junior magistrates” those who voted to maintain the exclusion of the Pueblo Soberano and Aqui Costa Rica Manda parties, led by people who worked in Casa Presidencial during his administration and who were fighting to be the heirs of “Chavismo”.
Chaves said that “junior magistrates” voted in a different direction from the “senior magistrates”, implying that a democracy like Costa Rica’s could see its image affected by these decisions.
Zamora avoided referring directly to the President’s statements but recalled that Costa Rica has “a healthy tradition, a rule that dates back to the 1920s, even before the country’s current political constitution, under which the Executive Branch must seek disciplined abstention of trying to influence electoral processes.
“Your constitutional duty is to stay out of this process,” Zamora said emphatically.
Additionally, she emphasized that in the current TSE, there are no “junior” or “senior” magistrates, and highlighted: “All of the TSE magistrates are veterans in electoral matters. The one with the least experience has 19 years of being in charge of this institution; There are no “amateurs” here.
Zamora also recalled that the decisions of the TSE are made by a collegiate body, so the official vote is that of the majority of this institution. “It is normal that there are diverse positions, but the official position is that of the majority of this body,” she said.
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Zamora’s statements were in the third press conference of the day, in which she assessed the development of the municipal election process, together with Héctor Fernández, Director of the Electoral Registry. Both officials agreed that the elections took place in a framework of normality and tranquility.
Fernández indicated that the “800-Elector” hotline received around 192 complaints, but highlighted that the majority were related to illegal propaganda, such as a case in Barva de Heredia, where it was claimed that a ‘cimarrona’, a small band of amateur musicians, typical of the folklore of the cantons and towns of Costa Rica, was too close to the voting precincts.
“Complaints of violence were very few, compared to previous processes, and all were attended to in a timely manner,” he stated.
Aquí Costa Rica Manda. The Aquí Costa Rica Manda is a group made up of supporters of President Rodrigo Chaves, but due to an issue of gender parity the TSE annulled the assemblies they held in different parts of the country to elect their candidates for mayors, councilors and trustees, resulting in being excluded from the mayoral elections on February 4.
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Despite the disqualification for the 2024 elections on Sunday, hundreds of supporters of the political party made themselves felt in different parts of the country with flags, shirts and cars.
ACRM is the group that brings together the followers of President Rodrigo Chaves, but due to an issue of gender parity the TSE annulled the assemblies they held in different parts of the country to elect their candidates for mayors, councilors, and trustees.
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