Weekly Report - 28 March 2018 (WR-18-12)

The latest opinion surveys ahead of the 1 April presidential second round run-off show the two contenders – Fabricio Alvarado Muñoz of the small conservative Partido Restauración Nacional (RN) and Carlos Alvarado Quesada of the ruling centre-left Partido Acción Ciudadana (PAC) – in a technical tie. Further compounding uncertainty ahead of the second round, Costa Rica’s two main parties, Partido de Liberación Nacional (PLN) – which registered its worst-ever electoral performance in the first round in February – and Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC), remain deeply divided, offering little guidance to their support base as to which Alvarado to back.