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48
Deputies Approved the TLC
Referendum
The Legislative Assembly worked
overtime on Monday night as
legislators were asked to vote
on the government's proposal for
a public vote on the Tratado de
Libre Comercio (TLC) - free
trade agreement with the United
States, Central America and the
Dominican Republic.
In total there 53 legislators
present, of which 48 vote in
favour and five against.
The five negative votes were
from legislators of the Partido
Acción Ciudadana (PAC), Ronald Solís
and
Leda Zamora; José Merino del Río,
of the Frente Amplio; Óscar
López, of the Partido Accesibilidad
sin Exclusión (PASE); and Mario Quirós,
of the Movimiento
Libertario.
The yes vote came from
legislators of the Partido Liberación Nacional
(PLN), PartidoUnidad
Social Cristiana (PUSC), Partido Movimiento
Libertario (ML), Partido Acción Ciudadana
(PAC) and the PartidoRestauración Nacional.
Each legislator present in the
house was given 10 minutes to
give his or her reason for his
or her vote. Beginning at
6:04pm, the voting ended at
11:57pm, even though the 29th
vote required for passage was
obtained at 9:28pm.
The proposal now has to be sent
to the Tribunal Supremo de
Elecciones (TSE) - elections
tribunal - who will be
responsible for setting the date
and the process of the popular
vote, which is expected by
August or September.
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