Democratic Force ( es, Fuerza Democrática) nicknamed “''El Naranjazo''” (the ''Big Orange'' or the ''Orange Hit'' because the color of its flag) was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

. The party was founded in 1992 by Gerardo Trejos and other

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

Costa Rican leaders taking the structure of the Progress Party that nominated poet Isaac Felipe Azofeifa for the 1990 general election. For around a decade was Costa Rica's main alternative force and third party in a very rigid

two-party system A two-party system is a political party system in which two major political parties consistently dominate the political landscape. At any point in time, one of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually referre ...

dominated by the

major parties A major party is a political party that holds substantial influence in a country's politics, standing in contrast to a minor party. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary: Major parties hold a significant percentage of the vote in electi ...

PLN and PUSC. In the 1994 elections the party won 2 seats, Nohlen, D (2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I'', p175 whilst its candidates in the presidential election; TV personality and folklorist Miguel Zúñiga Díaz a.k.a. Miguel Salguero, finished third with 1.9% of the vote. In the 1998 elections it gained 3 seat, whilst its candidate (this time historian Vladimir De la Cruz De Lemos) again finished third in the presidential contest. The appearance of new

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

party PAC that manage to attract most of the anti-bipartisan vote with its charismatic leader

Ottón Solís Ottón Solís Fallas (born 31 May 1954 near Pérez Zeledón) is a Costa Rican politician. He graduated with a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Costa Rica in 1976 and gained a master's degree in economics from the University of Manch ...

and very harsh internal conflicts gravely affected the party and despite receiving 2% of the parliamentary vote in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

it lost all three seats, whilst De la Cruz De Lemos finished seventh in the presidential election, receiving just 0.3% of the vote. The party disbanded in 2010, some of its members became members of other parties, like former San José councilor and latter deputy Alberto Salom and former deputy Rodrigo Gutiérrez joined PAC whilst others like former deputy

José Merino del Río José Merino del Río (September 12, 1949 in Burgos, Spain – October 8, 2012) was a Costa Rican politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians ...

and his advisor

José María Villalta José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

joined the new left-wing party Broad Front.

References

Defunct political parties in Costa Rica Political parties established in 1994 1994 establishments in Costa Rica Socialism in Costa Rica {{CostaRica-party-stub