Fishman Says Being Elected Party President is No Prize
In an interview with the Spanish daily newspaper, Diario Extra, Luis Fishman said that being elected president of the Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC) is not a prize, but rather, a responsibility which he intends to carry on his shoulders until the party once again becomes an option to voters.

The PUSC has alternated governing the country for more than 50 years. In the 2006 election, with Ricardo Toledo as presidential candidate, not only lost the presidential race but lost a significant number of legislative deputies. The party that was once a dominant force in the legislature was reduced to a minority part with only five legislators.

Fishman, who was second vice-president in the Pacheco administration, though he was stripped of his official duties in a row with the president, said that he intends to earn the trust of his opponents, opponents who have vowed to pull away from the party and three of the five PUSC legislators.

Fishman said that his opponents are not many, maybe three or four, and that the rest of the party members are happy with his election. The party president admitted that there is a struggle ahead with a divided party, but he intends to coordinate all his efforts to the maximum so that the party comes together.

Asked if he is dividing the party, Fishman said that the party members should wait and see as he has never been party president and can't say that he is the dividing force. "Since the announcement of my candidature to the post, some have tried to discret me", said Fishman.


Fishman added that he is deeply hurt that Luis Manuel Chacón, who knows his past well, has spoken critically of him. The party president said that notwithstanding, he will be there to move the party forward as that is his obligation.

Chacón is a close friend of former president Calderón, and now is a strong critic of the Fishman election. This week Chacón made his intentions on the matter clear and added that his decision to leave the party if not tied to any decision by his daughter, Ana Helena Chacon, who is a member of the Legislative Assembly.

Fishman is a "Calderonistas", a group who support former president Rafael Angel Calderón and believed to be elected to the post to help his friend (Calderón) who is rumoured to make a bid for the presidential chair in 2010. "That is nonsense, everything began to help our a friend and to put in motion a political agenda", said Fishman on the notion.

Former president Calderón is currently being investigated for taking part in the Fischel-Caja scandal that saw millions of dollars of a loan from the government of Finland for the Caja to purchase medical equipment, diverted to his pockets and the pockets of others, including that of the president of the Fischel Corporation, among other charges.

Calderón and the Calderónistas are confident that the investigation will lead nowhere and that his name will be cleared.