Elections tribunal presents presidential credentials to Luis Guillermo Solís, who turns 56 today

In a brief 15-minute ceremony, Supreme Elections Tribunal (TSE) President Luis Antonio Sobrado on Friday morning officially presented Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera with credentials declaring him the 47th president of Costa Rica.

At the event, held at the TSE’s main facilities in downtown San José, Solís delivered an emotional five-minute speech thanking his father, Freddy Solís, for attending.

The president-elect also thanked TSE officials for their work during the two rounds of elections in which Solís resoundingly won as the Citizen Action Party (PAC) candidate, with 78 percent of the vote against ruling party candidate Johnny Araya.

Vice presidents-elect Ana Helena Chacón Echeverría and Helio Fallas Venegas also received their credentials.

Solís’ inauguration is scheduled for May 8 at the National Stadium in La Sabana Park, west of San José. This week he traveled to neighboring Central American countries – except Nicaragua – to invite the region’s presidents to the event.

The PAC victory ended nearly half a century of ruling by Costa Rica’s two traditional parties, the National Liberation Party and the Social Christian Unity Party.

At the end of the ceremony, attendees surrounded Solís to sing him “Happy Birthday,” as Costa Rica’s next president celebrates his 56th birthday today.

Follow Tico Times coverage of Solís’ presidency at hashtag #The Solís Administration.

Luis Guillermo Solís' father, Freddy Solís, 89, holds his son's credentials as Costa Rica's next president on Friday, April 25, 2014. Luis Guillermo Solís turned 56 on Friday. Alberto Font/The Tico Times