Constitutional Assembly Project already has opponents
Posted 12-02-2008 at 10:29 AM by emmanuelgr
The project by the Costa Rican Government to replace the current Constitution generated resistance and criticism in opposition parties and even from presidential pre-candidates from the party in power.
The main arguments are that this is not a suitable time for the country to convene a National Constituent Assembly and that the Costa Rica’s needs can be resolved by partial reforms and that the alternative proposals by Minister of the Presidency Rodrigo Arias are inconvenient.
In the Legislature, the foremost view is that it is not convenient to amend the Magna Carta of 1949 due to the atmosphere of political polarization as was seen in the discussion centered around the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States.
The only people consulted who supported Rodrigo Arias’ proposals were the president of the Congress and current interim president, Francisco Antonio Pacheco, and the mayor of San Jose, Johnny Araya, pre-presidential National Liberation Party candidate.
Araya had already launched the idea of amending the Constitution. He mentioned it in the events of September 15, “The problem is not the captain, it is the ship, he said later.
Pacheco and Araya were the only ones interviewed who agreed to having heard about the project, although not with the details outlined by Rodrigo Arias, who referred to dates and deadlines for possible referendums for the Constituent Assembly.
The aspiring National Liberation Party candidate and current Costa Rican vice president until October, Laura Chinchilla, expressed surprise at the approach. She immediately expressed her reluctance, “The calls for a Constituent Assembly sometimes end up being a Pandora's Box, you never know what will come out of it,” she said.
Otton Solis, likely Costa Rican presidential candidate for the Citizen Action Party (PAC by its initials in Spanish), also expressed opposition, “We have to see what changes are required. Our thesis is that the problems are not in the law but in not obeying them.”
He added, “The criticisms against control by various institutions and entities are questions against democracy itself. Corruption has created a climate of mistrust and it's necessary to delve into everything.”
Rodrigo Arias' argument is that Costa Rica needs greater flexibility and governance, which requires greater powers for the executive branch and to vary the roles of others.
In the Legislature, all the heads of the fractions were against convening a National Constituent Assembly, including the liberationist Oscar Nunez, who also claimed not to know enough about the project.
“There are Constitutional issues that would need to be refurbished, but you do not have to show all of your cards in a card game that nobody knows how it will turn out.(...) I would like to know about the intellectual effort made by those around Don Rodrigo,” said Oscar Nunez.
Arias said that a group of lawyers has been working on the issue and there is already a sketch with ten reforms and a timetable which, if fulfilled, should be implemented by the next government in May of 2010.
The head of the Social Christian Unity Party (Pusc by its initials in Spanish) faction and an Executive ally in Parliament, Lorena Vasquez, described the plan as “disjointed.”
“It seems as if the people and Don Rodrigo are on different frequencies. People are thinking about more concrete things that are more painful, such as security, education and health. I do not know if there is a political project in the background,” she said.
Jose Merino, of the Ample Front Party, said that it should be a comprehensive constitutional reform, but it must come from a grass roots level and not from this government.
A Constituent Assembly is a forum for people with full powers to rewrite the Constitution, during a set time period. In the country, there is no clarity about many of the details of this mechanism.
What the team at TicosLand.com is in agreement with, and we mentioned it yesterday, is that reform is needed so that Costa Rica can be more agile and update the basic principles of its Constitution. But this is not possible if political interests are the ones which take precedence in such processes.
The main arguments are that this is not a suitable time for the country to convene a National Constituent Assembly and that the Costa Rica’s needs can be resolved by partial reforms and that the alternative proposals by Minister of the Presidency Rodrigo Arias are inconvenient.
In the Legislature, the foremost view is that it is not convenient to amend the Magna Carta of 1949 due to the atmosphere of political polarization as was seen in the discussion centered around the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States.
The only people consulted who supported Rodrigo Arias’ proposals were the president of the Congress and current interim president, Francisco Antonio Pacheco, and the mayor of San Jose, Johnny Araya, pre-presidential National Liberation Party candidate.
Araya had already launched the idea of amending the Constitution. He mentioned it in the events of September 15, “The problem is not the captain, it is the ship, he said later.
Pacheco and Araya were the only ones interviewed who agreed to having heard about the project, although not with the details outlined by Rodrigo Arias, who referred to dates and deadlines for possible referendums for the Constituent Assembly.
The aspiring National Liberation Party candidate and current Costa Rican vice president until October, Laura Chinchilla, expressed surprise at the approach. She immediately expressed her reluctance, “The calls for a Constituent Assembly sometimes end up being a Pandora's Box, you never know what will come out of it,” she said.
Otton Solis, likely Costa Rican presidential candidate for the Citizen Action Party (PAC by its initials in Spanish), also expressed opposition, “We have to see what changes are required. Our thesis is that the problems are not in the law but in not obeying them.”
He added, “The criticisms against control by various institutions and entities are questions against democracy itself. Corruption has created a climate of mistrust and it's necessary to delve into everything.”
Rodrigo Arias' argument is that Costa Rica needs greater flexibility and governance, which requires greater powers for the executive branch and to vary the roles of others.
In the Legislature, all the heads of the fractions were against convening a National Constituent Assembly, including the liberationist Oscar Nunez, who also claimed not to know enough about the project.
“There are Constitutional issues that would need to be refurbished, but you do not have to show all of your cards in a card game that nobody knows how it will turn out.(...) I would like to know about the intellectual effort made by those around Don Rodrigo,” said Oscar Nunez.
Arias said that a group of lawyers has been working on the issue and there is already a sketch with ten reforms and a timetable which, if fulfilled, should be implemented by the next government in May of 2010.
The head of the Social Christian Unity Party (Pusc by its initials in Spanish) faction and an Executive ally in Parliament, Lorena Vasquez, described the plan as “disjointed.”
“It seems as if the people and Don Rodrigo are on different frequencies. People are thinking about more concrete things that are more painful, such as security, education and health. I do not know if there is a political project in the background,” she said.
Jose Merino, of the Ample Front Party, said that it should be a comprehensive constitutional reform, but it must come from a grass roots level and not from this government.
A Constituent Assembly is a forum for people with full powers to rewrite the Constitution, during a set time period. In the country, there is no clarity about many of the details of this mechanism.
What the team at TicosLand.com is in agreement with, and we mentioned it yesterday, is that reform is needed so that Costa Rica can be more agile and update the basic principles of its Constitution. But this is not possible if political interests are the ones which take precedence in such processes.
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