Citizens' Action Party (Costa Rica)
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Citizens' Action Party
Partido Acción Ciudadana |
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|---|---|
 |
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| President | Margarita Bolaños Arquín |
| Secretary-General | María Gabriela Saborío De la Espriella |
| Vicepresident | Kattia María Martín Cañas |
| Treasurer | Anthony Francisco Cascante Ramírez |
| Founded | 2000 |
| Ideology |
Christian socialism Social democracy Progressivism Cultural liberalism |
| Political position | Centre-left |
| International affiliation | Progressive Alliance |
| Colors | Gold and Red |
| Legislative Assembly |
13 / 57
|
| Mayors |
7 / 81
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| Regidors |
62 / 495
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| Website | |
| http://www.pac.cr/ | |
The Citizens' Action Party (Spanish: Partido Acción Ciudadana; commonly abbreviated as PAC) is a left-leaning political party in Costa Rica. In 2014, PAC presidential candidate Luis Guillermo Solís earned the most votes in the general election, causing his main rival to cease campaigning, making Solís the president.
Its platform is based on encouraging citizen participation and involvement in politics. One of its guiding ideals is to fight against corruption, arguing that it is one of the main causes of under development and voter apathy. The party took a leading role in the failed campaign against Costa Rica's membership of the Central American Free Trade Agreement.
PAC was founded in December 2000 by several dissidents from Costa Rica's two traditional parties, the National Liberation Party and the Social Christian Unity Party. Originally an anti-corruption party, it startled the Costa Rican political arena with a very strong showing in the 2002 general elections. In the presidential vote, party founder and candidate Ottón Solís was able to secure 26% of the votes – an unprecedented amount for a third party in Costa Rica – and force a runoff between the PLN and PUSC.
The party won 21.9% of the popular vote and 14 out of 57 seats in the Legislative Assembly, making it the third strongest political force in the legislature. A few months later, however, after a series of internal disputes, six of the party's 14 deputies resigned from the party, leaving PAC with only eight seats.
In the February 5, 2006 parliamentary election, the party won 17 out of 57 seats. Ottón Solís ran for president again, losing to the PLN's Oscar Arias Sanchez by less than .2% of the votes. Arias only won by a few thousand votes over the 40 percent threshold required to avoid a runoff. The number of spoiled ballots was larger than the margin between Solís and Arias.
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