National Republican Party (Costa Rica)
The National Republican Party was a political party in Costa Rica. A loosely liberal party was founded under the leadership of Máximo Fernández Alvarado known simply as Republican Party in 1901, its candidate was Fernández himself three times. The party’s candidate Ricardo Jiménez Oreamuno was elected president in 1910. A non-elected president member of the party was Alfredo González Flores who became the only president of Costa Rica appointed by the Congress.[1]
After electing Jiménez in three different occasions, the party also successfully nominated León Cortés Castro in 1936, Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia in 1940 and Teodoro Picado Michalski in 1944 becoming a dominant party. During Calderón's leadership the party moved toward Christian democracy and Christian socialism making some of the country's first social reforms in alliance with the Communist Party. Criticism over corruption, authoritarianism and voting fraud against the party and the results of the 1948 election in which the republican-dominated Congress overturned the elections because its candidate Calderón apparently lost cause the 1948 Civil War.[1] After that the party will be banned for a while and its leaders Calderón and Picado in exile. The party would have still relevance in the political system once democracy was restored but only would attain power in coalition with liberal forces (the party endorsed the successful candidacies of Mario Echandi and José Joaquín Trejos as part of alliances with other parties), eventually disappearing.[1]
Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier (Calderón’s son) founded a new party named Social Christian Republican Party in 2014 using the traditional party’s colors and flag.
References
- 1 2 3 Booth, John A.; yes (January 2008). Paul Webb and Stephen White, ed. Political Parties in Costa Rica: Democratic Stability and Party System Change in a Latin American Context (1 ed.). Oxford: Oxford Scholarship Online. ISBN 9780199289653. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
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