The votes of a majority of lawmakers from opposition parties on Thursday evening granted the government of President Luis Guillermo Solís the approval of its budget proposal for next year without any cuts and amid any incidents at the Legislative Assembly.
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.
About 150 people turned out Monday to a protest called by the National Association of Public and Private Employees (ANEP) against proposed cuts to the national budget for 2015.
President Luis Guillermo Solís addressed the nation Sunday evening in a televised speech urging lawmakers to keep his proposed 2015 budget largely intact as a general strike by public sector unions against budget cuts loomed Monday.
At least 15 public workers’ unions have called a large protest for Monday to oppose proposed budget cuts to public agencies and programs in 2015. The protest begins at Central Park at 8 a.m.
