A group of 21 lawmakers from five parties on Friday morning filed a complaint with the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court, or Sala IV, challenging the constitutionality of President Luis Guillermo Solís' decision to lift a veto on a bill proposing reforms to the country’s Labor Procedures Law.
President Luis Guillermo Solís announced his decision to lift the veto on the controversial “Reforms of Labor Procedures Bill,” which would extend the right to strike to public-sector workers from hospitals, police and other services, during a ceremony at Casa Presidencial Friday morning.
Just days after battling to pass the 2015 national budget, President Luis Guillermo Solís now faces another challenge over whether to archive or reactivate a bill that would extend the right to strike to public-sector workers from hospitals, police and other services.
After five hours of negotiations and heated discussions, 27 of 49 lawmakers at 8:10 p.m. voted to pass President Luis Guillermo Solís' budget proposal for next year, in an unorthodox Saturday session at the Legislative Assembly.
Budget talks ended in a stalemate Thursday at the Legislative Assembly, with Assembly Vice President Marcela Guerrero adjourning the session at 6 p.m. without a deal. Costa Rica's Constitution states that legislators must pass next year's budget by Nov. 30, meaning that lawmakers will have to work Saturday toward a second and final round of voting.
In a tight 25-26 vote, lawmakers on Monday afternoon voted in a first round of debate against the proposed national budget for next year in a hectic session marked by controversy and heated exchanges.
“I will tell them that those who fail to meet our expectations for management will be fired on May 1,” President Luis Guillermo Solís said, referring to his Cabinet ministers and public agency presidents.
Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solís has won perhaps one of his biggest challenges to date, as lawmakers on Thursday struck down three separate proposals to slash the administration's ₡7.9 trillion ($14.5 billion) budget proposal for 2015.
Lawmaker Ottón Solís, the founder of the ruling Citizen Action Party (PAC), on Wednesday evening apologized to former President Óscar Arias for a remark he made referencing Adolf Hitler, following Arias’ announcement of a proposal to reduce the country’s fiscal deficit.
On Monday evening, hours after the president requested an hour Thursday afternoon to present his assessment of the government as he found it after President Laura Chinchilla (2010-2014) left office in May, the heads of the fractious political parties refused to give him the floor. Solís blamed the National Liberation Party (PLN) for the delay in the report, which would be a first of its kind in Costa Rica.
