SAN JOSE, Feb 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Otton Solis and Otto Guevara, two main rivals of ruling party candidate Laura Chinchilla, has conceded defeat in the Costa Rican presidential elections and she is likely to win and be the nation’s first woman president.

Chinchilla took an early lead grabbing 48.66 percent of the vote with 11.35 percent of the votes counted, the electoral commission announced.

Her nearest rivals were Solis of the Citizen Action Party (PAC) with 22.46 percent, and Guevara of the Libertarian Movement Party (ML)with 21.31 percent from a total of nine candidates.

To become the country’s first woman president, Chinchilla must capture at least 40 percent of the popular vote. If she fails to eclipse that mark, she has to compete in a presidential run-off slated for April. 4.

The presidential vote is part of the general elections in Costa Rica which kicked off yesterday morning. Some 2.8 million voters were choosing a new president who will serve a four-year term, two vice presidents, 57 parliamentarians and 495 local deputies.

Most of the 6,617 polling stations opened with punctually, although some stations located in Alajuelita, Tarbaca, Guacimo and Puntarenas were late up to half an hour in opening, media reports said. — NNN-AGENCIES

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