Former President Figueres Will Not Be Voting
Voting in the February 5 presidential election is a "right" and "obligation" of every Costa Rican. However, there is one Costa Rican who will not make it for the voting and that is former president José María Figueres Olsen.

Costa Ricans cannot vote abroad as the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones (TSE) does yet allow voting outside of Costa Rica.

Figueres, who was the Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN) president between 1994 and 1998 will stay put in Switzerland where he hold citizenship and not risk returning to Costa Rica, where he has refused the request to appear before a legislative committee on his acceptance of a us$900.000 consulting fee from the French telecommunications firm ALCATEL.

Alcatel installed 400.000 lines of the GSM network and is in the mixst of a scandal for paying out bribes to public officials, including former president Miguel Angel Rodríguez (1998-2002), who is waiting for his trial date.

In the 1980s, Figueres joined the PLN, founded by his father, former President José Figueres Ferrer or "Don Pepe" and regarded as the father of Costa Rica. Figueres strengthened the relationship of Costa Rica with the United States and signed the bilateral Free Trade Agreement with Mexico in 1994, making Costa Rica the first Central American State linked with the North America Free Trade Agreement. He also took part in negotiations with the United States for the creation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas.

Figueres told the EFE news agency that the PLN, led by former president Oscar Arias, will definitely win the election and his vote is necessary. The declarations was made to the international press in Badajoz, Spain, while attending a technology conference at the Universidad de Extremadura.

"I am livin in Europe. We will win with 47% of the vote and my vote is not needed. For now, I have no intention of going to Costa Rica", Figueres told EFE.

Figueres added that he has no impediment for coming to Costa Rica and he could come at any moment, but "it is better not for now".

Figueres, though not in Costa Rica, has been active in the presidential elections, appearing on Spanish radio supporting Arias. "I have the greatest respect for Arias and is a man with experience and great political talent to the benefit of Costa Ricans", said Figueres several months back.