Costa Rica Beats With
One Heart As It Says "Sí"
In the words of Costa
Rican president, Oscar
Arias Sanchéz, Costa
Rica now beats with one
heart and beginning
today the country can
begin to write a new
future, now that the
question of the Tratado
de Libre Comercio (TLC)
has been decided.
Well, almost.
Questions of fraud and
irregularities by the
"NO" in the way the "Si"
campaign was directed
and the accusations of
use of government funds
to promote the vote in
favour of the trade
deal, means a manual
recount of all the
votes, which could take
as much as two weeks.
The final result,
pending the recount,
was 787.147 votes o
51.58% in favour and
738.949 votes or 48.42%
against.
Voter participation was
60%, well above the 40%
requirement stipulated
by the TSE, and much
higher that most of the
presidential elections.
Broken down by province,
San José, Cartago, Limón
and Heredia all voted in
favour of the trade
deal, while residents of
Alajuela, Puntarenas and
Guanacaste said No.
Cartago had the greatest
difference in the vote,
with almost 13% margin,
56.47% voting Si while
43.53% voting No, while
the rest of the
provinces keeping within
the overall margin.
"The borders that divide
us disappear, an were
not of the 'si' or
'no'... as president I
am the first to submit
to the process", said
Arias from Casa
Presidencial.
Some four blocks away,
at the "No" campaign
headquarters, Eugenio
Trejos made a passionate
call for calm and
refused to recognize the
majority vote of the "Si",
and accompanied by Otton
Soís and other leaders
of the No movement,
called for a scrutiny of
all votes.
Pending any major
changes in the voting
results, the trade deal
now goes back to the
Legislative Assembly
where deputies now have
the duty ratify the
trade deal and approve
the parallel laws that
compliment the TLC. |
|
