Costa Rica – I guess Costa Rica is following the lead of the USA where government is in search of more power and control over the country. You would think that with their past performances and proof that they are not much good at doing anything efficiently that this would not be even up for debate, but with the fact that those currently in charge are voting on this and not the constituents it will probably pass.
The discussion has officially started about a reform project to affect the rules of the Legislative Assembly, giving the government more power. This initiative has been under negotiation since October.
The main facet of the proposed amendment is that at the beginning of each term, the lawmakers can approve three bills within a certain period. The rest of the project focuses on cutting the time used speaking to members and filing motions for bills.
Today, the “Poder Ejecutivo” can only dominate the floor for half of the year and the other half is led by the political parties. Although Luis Guillermo Solis (PAC) is in the lead for the election (he has 30.9% of the votes and Araya has 29.65%), the head of his party, Carmen Munoz, said that he believes it is undemocratic to increase the powers of the government.
On the other hand, the deputy chief of the PLN, Siany Villalobos, says his party supports the added executive control. There was an initial agreement establishing two hours of discussion on the topic. Now, allied members are asking to shorten the space to just one hour, from 3:30-4:30, until April 30th, to allow space to make progress in other subjects. Four years ago, near the end of the term, the lawmakers tried to change the rules to allow expedited initiatives of processing, but it was not passed.
We can only hope that the government with the new president whomever it may be does a better job than the Chinchilla administration. I have a my doubts that much will change over the next president’s term but we will see. Costa Rica resists change on a daily basis it is a part of the culture in the land of Pura Vida. The next president will have an uphill battle in front of him when he is elected.
