Neither of the two Presidential Candidates, Fabricio Alvarado of the National Restoration Party (PRN), or Carlos Alvarado of the Citizen Action Party (PAC), has the intestinal fortitude to address the economic reform that is required, that being the revision downwards of the extremely high pensions and bonuses paid to employees in the Public Sector.
The loss of the Civil Service employee votes would mean the loss of the Presidency, so neither candidate will speak about it. Wages and benefits paid to employees in the Public Sector in Costa Rica regularly exceed those paid for similar public service positions in such First World countries as the U.S. and Canada.
By saying nothing, the Candidates are basically “buying the votes” of the Civil Service by maintain the status quo; this, in my opinion, is to the detriment of Costa Rica and its citizens as a whole.
In August, 2015, I posted the blog Does The Costa Rica Government Have “The Right Stuff”? here.
I believe that everything I said then, still applies now, to the well-being of the Costa Rica Economy going forward. Needless to say, nothing has been done in the implementation of any of these proposals since the blog was originally published.
Fearing “political suicide”, I doubt that either of the two current Presidential Candidates will address these issues in any meaningful way prior to the Election on April 1, 2018.
