No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeLegislative AssemblySetback for Solís: Opposition parties gain control of Costa Rica’s legislative directorate

Setback for Solís: Opposition parties gain control of Costa Rica’s legislative directorate

Lawmakers from the ruling Citizen Action Party (PAC) and administration officials will have to step up their negotiating skills over the next year if they hope to pass their legislative agenda.

Social Christian Unity Party lawmaker Rafael Ortiz Fábrega on Friday was elected president of the Legislative Assembly’s Directorate for the period running from May 1 to April 30 of next year. And PAC secured only one of six seats on the directorate.

Ortiz now leads the directorate thanks to negotiations between six opposition parties that earlier this week formed a bloc to help secure the main seats in the Assembly’s governing body. However, none of the parties was able to elect enough lawmakers to win voting in the Assembly without help from other parties.

The new legislative president was elected with the votes of 35 of 57 lawmakers. Ortiz received 18 votes from the National Liberation Party, eight from his own party, two from the Libertarian Movement Party, and one from each of the three Christian parties – Costa Rican Renovation, National Restoration and the Christian Democratic Alliance.

As established by legislative procedure, three annulled votes and a blank ballot were tallied in favor of the candidate with the most votes, Ortiz.

Ortiz defeated former Assembly president and PAC candidate Henry Mora Jiménez, the Broad Front Party’s Francisco Camacho Leiva and the Accessibility Without Exclusion Party’s Óscar López Arias.

The only surprise of the day was the election to the directorate of Marlene Madrigal Flores, a PAC legislator nominated by the opposition bloc. She defeated fellow PAC lawmaker Laura Garro Sánchez.

The opposition bloc exceeded 35 votes for all of the posts on the directorate. That number is not enough to pass bills in full Assembly sessions, meaning the group will have to negotiate votes from other parties in order to move bills forward. A minimum of 38 votes is needed to pass a bill or approve legislative procedures.

Ahead of the voting, President Luis Guillermo Solís said earlier Friday that he was “tormented” by the thought that “those responsible for the deficit we have today … will refuse to help this administration and Costa Rica.”

The election ended at about 2:30 p.m. with a swearing-in ceremony for members of the new directorate, as follows:

President: Rafael Ortiz Fábrega (Social Christian Unity Party)

Vice President: Luis Vázquez Castro (Social Christian Unity Party)

First Secretary: Juan Marín Quirós (National Liberation Party)

Second Secretary: Karla Prendas Matarrita (National Liberation Party)

First secretary pro tem: Marlene Flores Madrigal (Citizen Action Party)

Second secretary pro tem: Natalia Díaz Quintana (Libertarian Movement Party)

Trending Now

Major Cocaine Seizure in Costa Rica’s South Highlights Ongoing Cartel Fight

Costa Rican police pulled off a big win against drug traffickers this Sunday, seizing over a ton of cocaine hidden in a tourism minibus...

Panama Canal Warns of Traffic Decline as Economic Uncertainty Grows

The Panama Canal will take in about $400 million less in the next fiscal year due to a drop in ship traffic caused by...

Mexico Battles Wildfire Damage with Drone-Based Reforestation

Authorities in the state of Michoacán, in western Mexico, are using drones to scatter seeds from the air in an effort to reforest hundreds...

Costa Rica Replaces One-Lane Bridges as Traffic and Population Grow

As the infrastructure of Costa Rica advances, with new four-lane highways and a series of bypasses around San José that avoid the narrow, congested...

President Chaves Downplays Costa Rica’s Security Crisis Amid Record Homicides

President Rodrigo Chaves brushed off concerns about Costa Rica's surging violence during his Wednesday press conference, insisting the security situation "is not as serious"...

Panama Union Files Lawsuits Against Chiquita Over Mass Layoffs

Panama’s President, José Raúl Mulino, will meet in Brazil with U.S. banana company Chiquita Brands in search of an agreement for the company to...
L. Arias
L. Arias
Reporter | The Tico Times |
spot_img
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait
Costa Rica Travel

Latest News from Costa Rica