by Rod Hughes
The Supreme Elections Tribunal, an independent ballot watchdog agency in charge of organizing all voting within the country, has postponed the referendum on the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) until, tentatively, Oct. 7. The voting was to be held in September.
The tribunal made its decision because the trade treaty is currently under review by the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court. Taking into account the oxcart pace of the Costa Rican legal system and the length of the treaty, as large as a major city’s phone book and written in dense legalese, the Oct. 7 date might even be optimistic.
If the court should rule that major portions of the pact are unconstitutional, the treaty would be turned back to congress for revision. Once returned, it might never again see the light of day, if the experience of the last administration with a sweeping tax reform bill is any guide. After working on the bill for nearly all of former President Abel Pacheco’s four-year term, the legislators passed it and it was sent on to the court where major portions were deemed unconstitutional. At that point, everyone seemed to give up on it, although current President Oscar Arias holds tax reform nearly as dear as Pacheco.
On the other hand, in Costa Rica some bills seem to take on the life of an intermitable soap opera.