A few weeks before May 1, the date on which the new Legislative Directory will be defined, Yara Jimenez He divides his days between political meetings, transition meetings and preparation sessions. He does so, as he claims, thanks to an administrative resource: his vacation accrued as general secretary of the Government Council.
The elected representative of the ruling party Sovereign Peopleis virtually the next president of the Legislative Assembly, since His bench has 31 votestwo more than the 29 necessary to elect the members of the governing body of Congress.
Although he confirmed that he has not yet formally left his position in the Presidential House, has chosen to use his rest days to attend to the agenda that his eventual arrival to the presidency of the Legislative Assembly implies.
“I am still the general secretary of the Government Council“I have quite a few accumulated vacations, so I have taken advantage of that opportunity,” he explained this Wednesday, in response to a question from The Nation, after the solemn session of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), in which the 57 elected deputies received their respective credentials.
“Every day that I have come here or that I have gone to different meetings, “I am using my legal vacation to be able to attend these activities,” he added.
In parallel, Jiménez maintains that it is an intensive period of preparation. He indicated that he holds meetings with experts and studies as part of a deliberate process to assume in advance the responsibilities that come with leading the Legislative Branch.
“It is necessary to take a step to start the new work. We have been preparing a lot, studying with experts, to arrive ready that day,” he said.
This process also includes political gestures typical of a transition. The legislator already had a lunch with the current legislative president, Rodrigo Ariasin which they exchanged impressions about the functioning of Congress.
“In a country like ours, civic and democratic, That interim between the end of the administration and the beginning of ours was important.“, he commented. “It was a pleasant lunch, in which relevant topics were discussed,” he mentioned.
If the imminent election of Yara Jiménez takes place, the official will assume the presidency of the Legislative Assembly after four years under the command of Ariasin a change that would not only mark a change in the leadership of Congress, but also the transfer of political control of the Directory to the bloc related to the Government.
The last time the ruling party held the legislative presidency was in the 2018-2019 period, when Carolina Hidalgo, of the Citizen Action Party (PAC), took office.
Although he PAC did not have a legislative majority in either of its two governments —those of Luis Guillermo Solís (2014-2018) and Carlos Alvarado (2018-2022)—, managed to head the Board of Directors in the first years of both administrations thanks to the support of opposition factions, who agreed to give up the parliamentary presidency.
That same courtesy was not given to the official party of the Social Democratic Progress Party (PPSD), during the government of Rodrigo Chaves (2022-2026).
