:''Not to confuse with the

Constituent Assembly of Costa Rica Costa Rica’s National Constituent Assembly was formed after the 1948 civil war. Elections to the Assembly for a New Constitution were called on December 8, 1948 by the then de facto Junta provisional government presided by José Figueres. The A ...

'' The Constitutional Congress of Costa Rica was the unicameral parliament of the country for most of its history. It was established in the Political Constitution of 1871. It consisted of 43 deputies and 18 alternates elected proportionally by provinces at the rate of one deputy for every 15,000 inhabitants with, among other powers, being able to choose the President in case none of the candidates obtained the minimum required to be elected, as happened in the 1913 election, the first election that were held with direct popular vote, and in which none of the candidates;

Máximo Fernández Alvarado Máximo Fernández Alvarado (1858–1933) was a Costa Rican politician. Born in Desamparados in 1858, he graduated as a Bachelor in Philosophy and Letters at the University of Santo Tomas at fourteen years old and as a lawyer in the same ins ...

Carlos Durán Cartín Carlos Durán Cartín (1852-1924), a doctor of medicine who had trained in London, was acting President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President ...

and

Rafael Yglesias Castro Rafael Anselmo José Yglesias Castro (18 April 1861 – 10 April 1924) was a Costa Rican politician who served as President of Costa Rica for two consecutive periods from 1894 to 1902. Biography He was born to Demetrio Yglesias Llorente a ...

, gathered enough votes to win in the first round. It was therefore the responsibility of the Congress to choose the president from among the candidates, but all of them withdrew their name and

Alfredo González Flores Alfredo González Flores served as President of Costa Rica from 1914 to 1917. He was unable to complete his presidential mandate following a coup d'état on 27 January 1917, led by Federico Tinoco, his secretary for War and the Navy. González ...

was chosen. After the controversial election of 1948 in which both the opposition and the ruling party proclaimed themselves victors and accused the other side of

electoral fraud Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share of ...

, the Constitutional Congress dominated by the ruling party annulled the presidential elections (but not the parliamentary elections where the ruling coalition had been favored) and civil war broke out. The opposition defeated the government of

Teodoro Picado Michalski Teodoro Picado Michalski (10 January 1900 – 1 June 1960) was the president of Costa Rica from 1944 to 1948. Overview Picado governed Costa Rica immediately after the presidency of Rafael Angel Calderón Guardia and preceded the de facto ...

and called upon a new

Constitutional Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

that drafted the 1949 Constitution. This created the

Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica The Legislative Assembly ( es, Asamblea Legislativa) forms the unicameralism, unicameral legislature, legislative branch of the Costa Rican government. The national congress building is located in the capital city, San José, Costa Rica, San Jos ...

, also unicameral and made up of 45 deputies later increased to 57, so that the Constitutional Congress ceases to exist.

References

{{Reflist Defunct unicameral legislatures History of Costa Rica