Sala III Has New Magistrate. Finally!
While most Costa Ricans were focusing their attention to Rome, there was white smoke as well coming from the Legislative Assembly, that after a long and hardous fight, the 33 votes necessary to appoint Magda Pereira Villalobos as Magistrate of the Sala Tercera were obtained.

More than 100 hours of discussion and bickering were necessary to make the appointment, but the job was finally finished, Gerardo González, president of the legislative directive, commented. According to González, it appears that on one of the voting ballots, one of the deputies voted for former president Rafael Angel Calderón.

The decision to elect Pereira was met by satisfaction, especially Federico Malavassi of the Movimiento Libertartio and Gloria Valerín of the Partido Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC), who see the appointment of woman to the bench as a step in the right direction for democracy and transparency in Costa Rica.

The election of the new magistrate was filled with all sorts of infighting and accusations by various deputies, including claims that former president Miguel Angel Rodríguez, who is under house arrest, tried to to influence the vote.

Magda Pereira is 52 years old and a specialist in criminal sciences and has worked as a judge for the Poder Judicial for a long time. Her swearing in will be tomorrow, Thursday 21 April.