Top PUSC lawmaker Luis Fishman ditches his party in the assembly

Lawmaker and former Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC) presidential candidate Luis Fishman on Monday declared himself an independent lawmaker in an ongoing row sparked by legislators who blocked a Supreme Court judge’s re-election. He said he would remain in PUSC outside assembly halls.

Fishman, who was PUSC’s top lawmaker, said he left the party’s bloc because other PUSC lawmakers opposed the re-election of judge Fernando Cruz to the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court, or Sala IV.

Last Thursday, 38 lawmakers from various parties voted against Cruz’s re-election to the court, sparking the latest in a series of political crises that has affected the administration of President Laura Chinchilla.

Fishman is the second lawmaker to quit his party in the current Legislative Assembly, following José Joaquín Porras’ exit from the Access Without Exclusion Party earlier this month.

This story corrects an earlier error that stated Fishman had left his party entirely. He has only renounced PUSC membership in the Legislative Assembly.