Breaking Quorums & Politicking
by Rod Hughes
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UPDATE 2 Aug. ‘07: It’s “let’s make a deal” time at the Legislative Assembly as 38 congressmen have banded together to plead with their Citizen Action Party (PAC) colleagues to stop obstructing the flow of legislation, after PAC deputies have blocked business repeatedly. PAC deputies oppose acting on 13 so-called “parallel laws” that would have to reform the way the country does business if it is to conform with the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). The Pro-CAFTA deputies propose to debate the bills but not to vote on them until after the Oct. 7 referendum. Their proposal:If the pact is voted down, the bills would go back to committee–and likely die there–but if the majority of the people say “Yes” to CAFTA. the bills would go into law.(During August, the Executive Branch has the constitutional power to manage the congressional agenda in which laws are debated. Presidency Minister Rodrigo Arias says the cabinet will send only “politically viable” bills.”
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In the United States, Congress has its filibusters as a way to waste taxpayers’ time and money.
In Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly, it is a matter of not showing up at the sessions as a way to block progress. In a unicameral congress with 57 lawmakers, 38 are needed to dance. This week, meeting in Guanacaste province for the Annexation celebration, only 34 showed.
Last week, congress was only in session two days because the Citizen Action Party (PAC) wanted to block discussion on bills for legal reforms necessary if the October referendum approves the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). PAC, with 17 elected deputies, is politcking hard against CAFTA and does not want to hear about any parallel bills that would smooth the way for it.
But this week, it was the President’s own party deputies that failed to show for the sessions because four of the vital pro-CAFTA votes were also absent, meaning the parallel bill could have been voted down. (President Arias has only 38 pro-CAFTA votes to count on, a bare 3/4 majorit needed.)
But in the past, it has not been political maneuvering that accounted for enough absences to fail a quorum attempt. Reasons for being absent include: illness, death in the family, business concerns and just not feeling like attending today. Although the leading daily paper, La Nacion, often prints a list of the most often absent, some legislators do not get the message or feel the need to be responsible to the voters who elected them. Since they cannot be re-elected until four years have passed, they depend on the voters (and the newspapers) to forget their records.
Some make a career of being absent.
Meanwhile, a plan to rent a building to house offices for 16 of the President’s party’s deputies, relieving pressure in the overcrowed neo-colonial Legislative Assembly building, has been postponed. The lawmakers want the landlord to present a seismic study on the structure before they move in.
This is probably unnecessary, since the deputies seldom do anything earth-shaking, anyway…