Government Expected To
Fast Track "Parallel"
Laws To Avoid New
Referendum
Following the decision
by the Tribunal Supremo
de Elecciones (TSE)
authorizing
environmental groups the
collection of signatures
to convoke a referendum
that would decide the
fate of environmental
bills required to
implement the Tratado de
Libre Comercio (TLC),
that is before the
Legislature, the
government will be
looking to get the bills
passed before the
signatures are
collected.
The environmental groups
got the green light to
collect the 130.000
signatures required for
the TSE to call a
referendum and have the
public decide the
contents of the bill
rather than the
legislators.
The first referendum
ever held in Costa Rica
was last October 7 when
Costa Ricans were asked
to either approve or
reject the TLC - trade
deal with the United
States. The approval was
won by a slim number of
votes.
The TLC referendum was
possible with the
introduction of a
"referendum law" that
was passed in 2006 that
allows any citizen to
request the TSE to
convoke a referendum.
The TSE must review the
validity of the request
and if it has merit to
ask the petitioners to
collect the signature of
a minimum of 5% of the
registered voters.
On December 21, the TSE
authorized a group of
environmentalists to
collect the signatures,
a move that "makes no
sense" according to
Rodrigo Arias, ministro
de la Presidencia.
The environmentalists
want the people to
decide the future of the
"Ley de Protección de
Obtenciones Vegetales",
which forms part of the
12 "parallel" laws that
need to be passed before
the implementation of
the TLC on March 1,
2008.
The government is
expected to move quickly
to get the remaining
bills approved and avoid
another referendum.
According to minister
Arias, he expects all
the bills, especially
the environmental bill,
passed by the
legislators before the
middle of January.
"The request will not
have any effect, because
any referendum on
approved laws doesn't
make any sense", said
minister Arias.
In any event, the
environmentalists will
be moving forward with
their petition, working
with the TSE magistrates
to fornulate the
signature collecting
forms and get out to the
public as soon as
possible.
Minister Arias avoided
making a call to Costa
Ricans on their decision
when asked for their
signature, though
commenting that the
proposed bill is
complicated and should
be decided by the
legislators and that he
preferred that people do
not give their
signature. |
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