February 1, 1998 2002 → 618.834 (44.4%) 41.710 (3.02%%) 481,933 (34.8%) 79,826 (5.8%) | 652.160 (46.9%) 618.834 (44.4%) 569,792 (41.2%) 481,933 (34.8%) 27 23 | |
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General elections were held in Costa Rica on February 1, 1998. Miguel Ángel Rodríguez of the Social Christian Unity Party won the presidential election, whilst his party also won the parliamentary election. Voter turnout was 70%, the lowest since the 1950s.
Parliament
The country was for the time still under a heavy two-party system dynamics and the two main parties at the time; National Liberation Party and Social Christian Unity Party won most of the votes. Nevertheless, some third forces also won seats on the Parliament, among them left-wing Democratic Force won two seats. It was also the first time that liberal Libertarian Movement and Christian conservative Costa Rican Renovation won seats (one each) in the Parliament both for their future presidential candidates Otto Guevara and Justo Orozco respectively. The small party National Integration Party led by medic Walter Muñoz won its only seat in history for Muñoz himself.