Costa
Rica's
Opposition
Bloc
Takes
Control
of
Legislature
After
almost a
day
without
a
Legislative
directorate,
an
alliance
of five
opposition
managed
to take
control
of the
Legislative
Assembly
from the
ruling
party, a
situation
not seen
since
1949.
Juan
Carlos
Mendoza
of the
"opposition
bloc" is
the new
chairman
of the
legislature
today. |
At the
end of
the day
Monday,
the
opposition
bloc won
the
election
of the
legislative
directorate
with all
31
legislators
of the
"alliance"
voting
for the
Juan
Carlos
Mendoza
as the
new
chairman
of the
Legislative
Assembly.
The
alliance
is made
of up
the
Acción
Ciudadana
(PAC),
Movimiento
Libertario
(ML),
Unidad
Social
Cristiana
(PUSC),
Accesibilidad
sin
Exclusión
(PASE)
and
Frente
Amplio
who were
successful
against
the
ruling
party,
the
Partido
Liberacion
Nacional
(PLN).
Under
the
agreement
by the
alliance,
Mendoza
will
lead the
Legislature
for the
next
twelve
months,
a member
of the
PUSC for
2012 and
the ML
for
2013. It
is
important
to note
that May
1 there
is an
election
for a
new
directorate
and
though
the
alliance
have
their
candidate
designated
for the
next
three
years,
yesterday's
election
if only
for one
year.
The
result
of
Monday's
vote is
the loss
of
control
of the
legislature
by the
administration
of Laura
Chinchilla,
who
immediately
sent a
note to
the
alliance
on
Monday,
telling
them
that the
door to
her
office
is
always
open and
that she
looks
forward
to
working
with the
group
for the
coming
year.
The
opposition
bloc was
formed
to
derail a
number
of the
government's
proposals,
including
the
putting
a stop
to the
government's
fiscal
reform
(tax
plan)
which
proposes
to raise
revenue
through
a value
added
tax and
other
measures.
The PLN
has the
largest
number
of
legislators
in the
Legislature,
but not
a
majority
of seats
so the
government
relies
on the
minority
parties
for
support.
Presidenta
Chinchilla,
for the
first
time in
Costa
Rica's
history,
did not
get to
give her
annual
report
personally
to the
legislators,
submitting
her
written
report
instead.
The
rules of
legislative
procedure
is the
election
of the
chairman
before
the
president
can give
its
report
on May 1
of each
year.
|
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