1994 Santa Rosan presidential election

1994 Santa Rosan presidential election

20 April 1994 (first round) 4 May 1994 (second round)
Turnout	82.42% (first round) 81.05% (second round)
Candidate Terence Cola Antonio Lardesi Party PSD PLR Running mate Geraldo Gran Cebolla Ernesto Capmany Popular vote 98,828,413 32,235,897 Percentage 75.40% 24.60%
President before election Paul Oppenheimer President Terence Cola PSD

A presidential election was held in Santa Rosa on 20 April 1994, with a second round on 4 May. Terence Cola was elected, winning the most votes in the first and second rounds. Cola, the candidate for the Social Democratic Party, won with a sweeping majority in the second round, achieving 98.8 million (75.4%) of the votes, while Antonio Lardesi, the Liberal Republican Party candidate, got 32.3 million votes (24.6%).

The election was the first to be held after the end of the military dictatorship of Paul Oppenheimer. It also had the highest turnout of any election in the country's past, and Terence Cola received the most votes of any candidate in the history of Santa Rosa.

Background

The Constitution of Santa Rosa states that the President of the Republic is elected to a four-year term in a two-round popular vote system. If no candidate achieves a majority in the first round, a second round takes place two weeks later consisting of the two highest performing candidates of the first round. The winner of the election takes office on 20 August of that year.

Candidates

Candidates in runoff

#	Party/coalition	Presidential candidate		Political office(s)	Vice Presidential candidate
	Social Democratic Party		Terence Cola	President of the National Assembly (1990–1991) Member of the National Assembly (1970–1991)		Geraldo Gran Cebolla
	Liberal Republican Party		Plutarco Dijker	None		Bert Morena

Candidates failing to make runoff

#	Party/coalition	Presidential candidate		Political office(s)	Vice Presidential candidate
	National Democratic Party		Israel Pozo	Acting President of Santa Rosa (1990–) President of the Congress (1984–)		Jafet Houtkooper
	MOLAN		Imani Crespo Cruz	None		Godofredo Janz
	Party of National Unity		Miguel Sinpito	Member of the Puerto Rojo City Council (1976–1988)	File:Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley meets with Rodolfo Escalera (Crop).jpg	Juan Cambre

Campaign

Impeachment and resignation of Raul Romero

Further information: Raul Romero § Embezzlement accusation, impeachment, resignation

Incumbent president Raul Romero, who was seeking a third term alongside vice president Esteban Gayoso, was accused of embezzling government funds on December 31 1989. After the Congress found the accusations credible, he was impeached on February 6 1990, and both he and Gayoso resigned shortly after to avoid being removed from office. As a result, both of them dropped out of the presidential race, and Israel Pozo replaced Romero as the Liberal Republican Party candidate.

Medical worker strike

Hundreds of Emergency Medical Service workers went on strike across the country on March 27, sparking a crisis for Acting President Pozo and his government, as well as sparking another contentious issue in the campaign. Although generally unorganized, the strikers were demanding higher wages, safer working conditions, and up-to-date equipment, refusing to work until the government agreed to their demands.

Initially, the government refused to concede any ground or take any direct action. This was considered wildly unpopular for Pozo and the PLR. Perez made statements of sympathy, offering to meet with union leaders and promise "healthcare reform." At first, Dijker appeared rather apathetic, saying, "they work or they don't work. They can make the choice." However, he clarified his position, blaming the strikes on the PLR government. "Romero and his friends stole money from the treasury to spend on yachts and cars, when we could instead be providing our medics with the supplies they need," Dijker said. "This is less of a priority problem and more of a corruption one."

Opinion polls

First round

File:1990 Santa Rosa first round polls.svg

Results

Candidate		Party	First round		Second round
			Votes	%	Votes	%
	Tito Pérez	Social Democratic Party	40,752,262	32.92%	59,653,544	50.38%
	Plutarco Dijker	Independent	40,541,792	32.75%	58,749,327	49.62%
	Imani Crespo Cruz	MOLAN	23,800,668	19.23%
	Israel Pozo	Liberal Republican Party	13,170,327	10.64%
	Miguel Sinpito	Party of National Unity	5,518,800	4.46%
Valid votes			123,783,849	98.55%	118,402,871	96.43%
Invalid/blank votes			1,816,690	1.45%	4,379,350	3.57%
Total			125,600,539	-	122,782,221	-
Registered voters/turnout			165,374,843	75.95%	165,374,843	74.24%