Citizen Action Party Plans 2006 Ticket

The Tico Timeswould like to welcomeour readers to a newregular column highlightingsome of themost important andinteresting activities ofthe country’s presidentialcandidates, lawmakersand politicians.While we willcontinue our in-depth coverage of CostaRica’s political landscape, we hope“Politics at a Glance” will help keep ourreaders updated on the latest happenings,particularly regarding the upcomingnational elections.• On June 26, Ottón Solís was officiallynamed the presidential candidate for theCitizen Action Party (PAC) in the February2006 elections. Solís was also the PACpresidential candidate in 2002, when hecame in third place and presented the firstreal challenge to Costa Rica’s decades-oldbipartisan system.• PAC legislator Epsy Campbell confirmedto the daily Al Día Sunday that sheand other party members are considering aSolís-Campbell ticket in the elections.Various sectors of the party believe that avice-presidential bid by Campbell, whoconsistently leads Costa Rican popularitypolls above even Nobel Prize laureate, ex-President and presidential candidate OscarArias, is just the boost the party needs.• Ricardo Toledo is the only officialpresidential candidate for the SocialChristian Unity Party (PUSC), now thatthe party’s election tribunal has rejectedthe registration of would-be candidateEverardo Rodríguez, former executivepresident of the National Water and SewerInstitute (AyA). Rodríguez’s registrationwas denied after the tribunal detected variousanomalies in his explanation of thesources of his ¢17.9 million ($37,900) registrationfee.• The seeds for a much-discussedalliance of small parties’ presidential candidatestook root last week when NationalDemocratic Alliance candidate and formerJustice Minister José Miguel Villalobosand Patriotic Union candidate José MiguelCorrales, formerly of the National LiberationParty, announced the formation ofthe Grand National Alliance. The allianceplans to hold an assembly to determinewhich candidate will challenge electionfrontrunner Oscar Arias.• Legislators from the LibertarianMovement Party presented a bill last weekthat aims to make Costa Rica’s wine industrymore internationally competitive bygiving wine producers tax breaks.