By Umamah Bakharia

The former finance minister, Rodrigo Chaves, who surprised many by making it into Costa Rica’s presidential runoff vote, has won the country’s presidency.

Economist Rodrigo Chaves had 53% of the vote, compared to 47% for former President José Figueres Ferrer, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal said.

However, 42% of eligible voters did not participate in the country’s election due to a lack of enthusiasm.

Discussing this with Radio Islam, political analyst Dr Dale Mckinley says Chaves’s win is needed for Costa Rica as the country is battling economically.

“He comes with a bit of reputation as an economist and that is one of the reasons probably he fared better than one of his opposing candidates,” says Dr Mckinley.

Chaves win comes as he fends off accusations of sexual harassment when he worked at the World Bank. However, no charges were laid against Chaves.

“It’s a sign of our time, he’s right-wing are conservative populist people who basically appeal to people’s desperation and the unpredictability of life,” says Dr Mckinley.

He adds: “people avoided the personal side of him.”

Costa Rica is one of the countries in the world with no standing army or had any wars as they have avoided political conflict.

In his victory speech, Chaves said he received the result with humility and called for unity to address problems like unemployment and a soaring budget deficit.