Solís Says Arias Should Dialogue More and Not Worry About His Personal Needs
On national television, the president of the Partido Acción Ciudadana (PAC) and former presidential candidate, Ottón Solís, is asking president Oscar Arias for a dialogue with the various social sectors with the objective of coming to an agreement for the benefit of all.

The political speech by Solís was following the first 100 days of the Arias government.

Solís who came in second in the February 5 elections, is calling on the government for a transparent dialogue with the various organizations and interest groups. The PAC leader said that the dialogue is very important today given the new balance of politics in the country.

In the past Costa Ricans had a choice of two major political parties, either the PLN or the PUSC. Today, the legislature is made up of several parties, including the PAC, that make dialogue that much more important if anything has to get done, according to Solís.

"It is difficult to build legislative majorities and dark backroom deals for power", said Solís.

The PAC leader is calling on president Arias to stop worrying about where he has his office or the type of car he is driven in and start dealing with the problems of the country that are for the benefit of all and not just one.

Solís admitted that his political party is in favour of taxation and that today there are many multinationals operating in the country that are tax exempt, like the "offshores", casinos and those that make huge profits selling our "natural resources" for luxury consumption.

The PAC leader said clearly that his party will not vote for any tax bill that will affect the poor or middle class while there is squandering and corruption going on.

Solís added that in addition to the dialogue, what the country needs most today is, moral authority. This demands elevated ethical standards in government and is necessary to recover public confidence, mired by the number of corruption scandals over the past few years.

The comments were pointed directly at President Arias who, according to Solís, has been more occupied as to where he works, the vehicle he drives and the salary he makes, referring to the preoccupation by Arias as the Casa Presidencial in Zapote was not fit for a government and the recent decision to move the government headquarters to a new location to be built in the downtown core and the recent news of the president not having an "official" vehicle and using borrowed vehicles from other government agencies.

In closing, Solís was emphatic that the government cannot ask for more tax dollars from the citizens unless it demonstrates austerity and regains confidence.

"The possibility to make things right is there. 100 days is too short a time to come to any conclusions", were the closing words of the PAC leader to the nation.