Caribbean & Central America - May 2012 (ISSN 1741-4458)

The ruling Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN) of President Laura Chinchilla entered into an alliance with the Partido Accesibilidad sin Exclusión (Pase) just one week before the 1 May vote to elect the new national assembly (AL)’s directorate. The move ensured that: a) the government would avoid a second historic embarrassment [RC-11-05]; and b) the opposition coalition that controlled the directorate in the 2011-2012 period had to face up to the fact that it was an electorally motivated alliance and not a grouping that formed as a result of common policy goals.

The PLN has 24 deputies, while Pase and its Christian allies (Renovación Nacional [RN] and Renovación Costarricense [RC]) have six – four and two respectively. Thus the PLN-Pase alliance secured 30 votes, one more than necessary to seize control of the directorate. However, as part of the arrangement, the PLN ceded the most important posts to the other parties. On the day, Víctor Emilio Granados (Pase) became the new president of the AL. The rest of the directorate will include: Martín Monestel (Pase) as vice-president; Rita Chaves (Pase) as first secretary; Xinia Espinoza Espinoza (PLN) as second secretary; Carlos Luis Avendaño (RN) as first assistant secretary; and Justo Orozco Alvarez (RC) as second assistant secretary.

The PLN secured control over 19 of the 21 congressional committees, but the new arrangement in the AL will not necessarily translate into the end of legislative stalemate. While the new alliance will be able to pass regular laws, in order to pass special legislation or call a ‘vía rápida’ period, like the one used to discuss the (now defunct) government’s fiscal reform bill in March, the coalition would need 38 votes.

PLN still dominates at the municipal level

Elections were also held by the directorates of municipal councils on 1 May. Although for a second election running, the PLN saw its power decrease in municipal councils, losing the presidency in six of them, it is still the most powerful party at a local level. It maintained control over 43 councils, or 53% of all 80 municipalities. The elections for the presidency of the local councils take place every two years. The PLN has progressively lost power in each contest since 2008, when it controlled 78% (or 63) of all municipalities; in 2010 its share of power decreased to 60% (or 49 municipalities).

According to the national union of local governments (UNGL), some of these losses correspond to previously agreed power-sharing arrangements, whereby the PLN would abandon its bid for a renewed presidency in 2012 in exchange for another party’s support in the 2010 election. The other political outfits secured the presidency of: 13 municipalities for the Partido Acción Ciudadana (PAC); nine for the Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC); four for Movimiento Libertario (ML); two for Alianza Patriótica; two for RC; and one for Pase. Five municipal parties gained control of the council in their respective jurisdictions – Alajuela, Palmares, Abangares, Montes de Oro and Curridabat.

PLN won and lost in San José’s municipal council

It could be described as a ‘battle of the sexes’. The race for the directorate of the municipal council of the capital district found the PLN divided along political lines and the overall legislative body along gender lines.

In one corner of the ring stood Sonia Zamora, who left the PLN’s bloc four months ago and was backed by all female council members and one man – the libertarian Olger Lawson; in the other corner stood Luis Murillo, also from the PLN, who was backed by the male council members.

In the end, Zamora came out on top, securing seven votes when only six were needed. Lawson also secured the backing of the coalition (PLN, PAC, Pase and ML) to be elected vice-president of the council. Mayor Johnny Araya missed the session as he is out of the country on holiday. 

• Controversial AL leader

Víctor Emilio Granados (Pase) is an attorney who helped co-found Pase in 2004. In 1989, he was found guilty of fraud in a case involving Banco Nación, for which he served a jail sentence. His candidacy had been questioned by some members of the AL, but the party president, Oscar López, insisted that “Granados is a trustworthy man who reinvented himself 23 years after having made a mistake”.