Nobody is more surprised that Luis Guillermo Solis is the President-Elect, than Luis Guillermo Solis himself. He admits this himself. This presents some unique problems of not really having psyched-himself-up for the job prior to winning the post as President, nor really applied his mind to the policies that will shape the new Government in May.
Costa Ricans elected don Guillermo on the basis of wanting change.
I don’t blame them, especially after the last four years of the Chinchilla Administration. It would appear, that with his most recent selection of Cabinet Ministers, all with limited, or no prior political experience in Government, change may be possible. No longer will the engrained corrupt practices and policies of Government officials benefiting themselves, family, and friends ahead of Country necessarily be the norm. Time will tell, of course.
I have been very critical in my past blogs of the leftist policies of the PAC Party, of which the President –Elect is the Leader, largely shaped by the Party’s former Leader and Presidential Candidate, Otton Solis (no relation).
It is now open for don Guillermo to re-think these leftist policies in-light of what would be the best way to move Costa Rica forward. His public statement that he intends to honour the Moin Superport Concession Agreement grant in favour of the Dutch Developer and contrary to the wishes of JAPDEVA, the Moin Dock Workers’ Union, is a good indication that PAC Policies may currently be under review.
This certainly must be the case, if Costa Rica is to move forward in the next four years. The Economy of Costa Rica cannot withstand any more large corporate departures from the Country as in the recent cases of Intel and Bank of America, taking approximately 3,000 well paying jobs with them. Intel alone accounts for 20% of the exports currently generated by Costa Rica.
More centrist policies must be adopted by the new Government which don’t tax like corporate entities to the point that other jurisdictions appear more attractive to do business in. Such policies need to continue to provide for a reasonable corporate tax base to insure that the social programs that Costa Ricans have enjoyed for years and the Country is famous for, continue.
