Two weeks before the presidential elections, the Citizen Action Party (PAC) announced it has been forced to suspend advertising due to lack of funds.
The left-leaning party, which came within 2 percentage points of winning the presidency in 2006, blamed the Banco de Costa Rica (BCR) for withholding ¢ 1 billion (about $1.8million) in bonds.
According to a statement from the PAC, the money is not being released because of the party´s poor performance the polls. PAC candidate Ottón Solís has not shown more than a 15 percent level of support in the polls since the campaign began.
“This is serious,” said Sergio Alfaro, a PAC legislator. “The banks are weakening Costa Rican democracy. The message they are sending to the people is that in Costa Rica, whoever presents the money presents the presidents, and those who pay for the polls can present the presidents.”
Campaigns are financed in part by private donations, but also by public money. The funds coming from government coffers are retroactively paid and depend on the results of the election. The number of votes a candidate receives on Election Day, Feb. 7 determines how much money his or her campaign is reimbursed.
Political parties can take out “party bonds” in the form of loans, which they can exchange for government bonds following the election. Yet, banks may decide not to front the party bonds if they suspect poor showings on Election Day.
The PAC claims that because it does not represent the interests of big business it has more difficulty raising private funds than other parties, and therefore depends more heavily on public financing.
“Our funding comes from political debt … but even if we lose access to that money, we have people full of desire to fight for their country,” said Solís´ campaign manager, Francisco Molina. “Our election results are achieved by our people and our work and not from (money).”
As of Monday, PAC had already withdrawn its advertisements from television channels 4, 6, 7 and 11 as well as select radio stations.
