During the negotiations preceding the election of the legislative director, MP Eliécer Feinzaig of the Partido Liberal Progressista shared that the president of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves, expressed the importance of keeping Rodrigo Arias as president of the Legislative Assembly.
In an interview with Despertor.cr, Feinzaig revealed that in his attempt to forge an alliance with the Partido Unidad Social Cristiana and the New Republic to respond to Horacio Alvarado as president of Congress, he sought the help of the official faction by speaking with Pilar Cisneros and organizing a meeting for April 12th.
During our meeting, President Fabricio Alvarado, Alejandro Pacheco, Feinzaig and Horacio Alvarado attended, together with Pilar Cisneros and Natalia Díaz. Feinzaig mentioned that Chaves expressed the convenience of Rodrigo Arias continuing as president of the Legislative Assembly due to the institution's bad reputation, arguing that it would be more favored.
Feinzaig detailed that he responded to President Chaves by signaling the importance of the Asamblea generating positive results for Costa Rica and that his goal was to contribute to the country in the best way possible. Before the tension and less contempt towards the Congress, he expressed his compromise to be followed by working hard.
During the negotiation, Chaves continued to criticize the lawmakers, but Feinzaig did not find a favorable response from the president. The possibility of establishing a shared development agenda between the three parties and the presidential team was discussed, but Chaves showed the reaction of giving up the space to work together.
Feinzaig signaled that the president maintained his posture even after the cooperation petition, which provoked a series of attacks against Congress and ultimately resulted in Feinzaig's decision to join forces.
The full interview with Eliécer Feinzaig is available on the medium's YouTube channel. During the interview, in addition to touching on current political aspects, we discussed the fire suppression project for defendants recently approved by the Legislative Assembly, as well as a development project to reform Costa Rica's tax system.