QCOSTARICA – ‘Third time’s the charm’, the third time you try to do something, it will work, can be said about the possibility of Oscar Arias governing for a third time.
Thursday morning, the former President (1986-1990 and 2006-2010) and receiver of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 for his efforts to end the Central American crisis, tested the political waters by telling the media he would have to think about running for a third time as head of the country, which he said for him would be for a “true privilege”.
The statement was made by the liberationist (PLN) following a press conference at the Fundación Arias para la Paz (Arias Foundation for Peace).
“I have a lot of pressure from the Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN) people, if I want to bring PLN to a similar victory in 2005. I have to give it much thought, I have to sleep on it, talk with my children, my wife, my brothers, and it is very honourable to think I can get back for the third time,” said Arias.
In recent weeks, speculation has grown about a possible Arias candidacy, who will have to possible face former President Jose Maria Figueres (), who is currently the president of the PLN party and has been making waves of his own of a possible run at a second term.
Figueres is the son of Jose Maria Figueres Ferrer, who served as President of Costa Rica on three occasions: 1948–1949, 1953–1958, and 1970–1974 and considered the father of peaceful modern democracy in the country.
In the latest survey of CID Gallup, Arias appears as the best political valued with a balance of 31% of favourable opinions.
Although I would agree that Oscar Arias possesses the most Statesman-like qualities of any recent President, support for his third term should be conditioned on his cleaning-up the mess he left from his second term as President, of causing outrageous wages and benefits to be paid to the Public Sector employees, which is currently bankrupting the Country, an error that he has accepted responsibility for his Administration having caused.