The Social Democratic Progress Party (, PPSD or PSD) is a

Costa Rican Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

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

founded in 2018 and led by

Rodrigo Chaves Robles Rodrigo Alberto de Jesús Chaves Robles (; born 10 June 1961) is a Costa Rican politician and economist who is the 49th and current President of Costa Rica since 2022. He was previously Ministry of Finance (Costa Rica), Minister of Finance from ...

and Pilar Cisneros Gallo.

Background

The party was created in 2018 by their founder Luz Mary Alpízar Loaiza, formerly part of New Generation Party. For the 2022 general elections, the party served as the electoral vehicle for the presidential ambitions of

, a recognized economist who worked at the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

and who was later called to be Minister of Finance in 2019. His stay as Finance Minister only lasted about a year as a result of irreconcilable conflicts with the then-president

Carlos Alvarado Quesada Carlos Andrés Alvarado Quesada (; born 14 January 1980) is a Costa Rican politician, writer, journalist, and political scientist who served as the 48th president of Costa Rica from 8 May 2018 to 8 May 2022. A member of the Citizens' Action Pa ...

. After this, he had very harsh criticisms of the government's management. In this way, he became a political figure representing those discontented with the

PAC Pac or PAC may refer to: Aviation * IATA code PAC Albrook "Marcos A. Gelabert" International Airport in Panama City, Panama * Pacific Aerospace Corporation, New Zealand, manufacturer of aircraft: ** PAC 750XL ** PAC Cresco ** PAC CT/4 ** PA ...

government. He has also been supported by the renowned journalist and political activist Pilar Cisneros Gallo, a critic of corruption and political scandals of different governments throughout the years that she worked in Channel 7 and

La Nación ''La Nación'' () is an Argentine daily newspaper. As the country's leading conservative newspaper, ''La Nación''s main competitor is the more liberal ''Clarín (Argentine newspaper), Clarín''. It is regarded as a newspaper of record for Argen ...

, which would end up nominated by this party as deputy for San José.

Ideology

The party's ideology expresses that they want to lower taxes but maintain sustainable social policies, while helping companies and giving benefits to farmers. It is against monopolies, promotes improvements in the prices of the basic basket products such as

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

and is against unnecessary paperwork and bureaucracy in institutions. As such, it advocates reducing public spending by closing unnecessary institutions. In the social and environmental sphere, Chaves affirms that his government will seek better unemployment plans with more competitive tourism, affirms that he is not against the legalization of marijuana since it brings economic and social benefits, but he affirms that he has an unfavorable perception of the decriminalization of abortion.

Electoral performance

Presidential

Parliamentary

References

{{Costa Rican political parties 2020s establishments in Costa Rica Conservative parties in Costa Rica Liberal parties in Costa Rica Political parties established in 2020 Socially conservative parties Social democratic parties in Costa Rica