Costa Rica Election 2022 | Meet the Candidate: Lineth Saborío (PUSC)
Lineth Saborío started in politics in the big leagues. In 2001, after being director of the Judicial Investigation Department (OIJ, in Spanish), the presidential candidate Abel Pacheco named her first vice-president candidate. When Pacheco became president, in 2002, she assumed that role and simultaneously became Planning Minister, among other positions. The Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC) claims in her official biography that, during the Pacheco administration, Saborío had a leading role in the implemented economic policies, “achieving significant economic growth and a fiscal surplus”.
When that government term ended in 2006, she became a consultant and a college teacher. Saborío stayed away from front-line politics for 12 long years until in 2008 she publicly supported Fabricio Alvarado ahead of the election second round in which he lost against now President Carlos Alvarado. Even though the candidate she backed did not win the election, that moment marked her return to politics. Since then, she became office manager for the PUSC Deputy Shirley Díaz in the Legislative Assembly, until a year ago.
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Last year, in the PUSC primaries, she had a rough start in which members of the party criticized her profoundly. Even Former President Abel Pacheco, who gave Saborío her first public office, didn’t support her presidential aspirations. Nevertheless, she came through and won the candidacy with 55% support. And with that, she started to gain traction in the polls, which now places her as a likely top-two contender, alongside José María Figueres (PLN) and Fabricio Alvarado (PNR). If Saborío gets in the top two, she’ll go to the second round, which happens when no candidate reaches a minimum of 40% support (the most likely scenario for the upcoming election).
She is the first woman to be named a presidential candidate in her party. PUSC, as well as PLN, was part of the two-party system that ruled Costa Rica until 2014 (when PAC won its first election), has not won an election since 2002. The fact that the militancy chose her may reflect, in some ways, a desire to go back to the party’s old days, when they were used to having a hold on the executive branch. The policies contained in her government plan resemble those of PUSC’s past governments, with some innovation in social themes that make her look updated. However, she has been criticized lately for not giving concrete answers about her proposals during interviews and debates.
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Government plan
Immigration. Lineth Saborío says she is committed to finding ways to have “proper” handling of immigration in Costa Rica, both for temporary and permanent permits. She thinks policies and programs should be designed to ensure that immigrants make a “positive contribution to our economy” without damaging social, economic, or health disruptions. Linked to this, according to her program, is the need to boost foreign investments in the country to access new technologies and new global markets, diversify production and exports, generate quality jobs, and add economic value.
Business. In that same sense, Saborío considers the attraction of foreign investment as one of the best employment policies and proposes strengthening support services and linkages, such as sources of employment, local added value, and productivity. Free Trade Zones (“zonas francas”), which attract an important chunk of foreign investment in Costa Rica, “will be promoted,” according to her government plan, which adds that the PUSC campaign has a “firm commitment to maintaining all the necessary conditions” for the “stability and growth” of this economic regime. She wants to ensure “that the business climate and the hosting advantages it offers stay over time.”
Taxes. Like all of the other right-wing candidates, Saborío is against more taxes. The economic recovery of Costa Rica cannot be based on raising taxes and approving loans, her economic plan explains. Instead, the next government should stop public spending growth and must undertake structural reforms to rationalize public finances. She promises that, “before considering a single tax burden, a review of tax efficiency and effectiveness will be promoted to stimulate growth and increase tax collection in a natural and sustained manner.”
Health and quality of life. The PUSC candidate is betting on reviewing and adjusting the State institutions, and updating them if needed, “to promote a better quality of life for each citizen and resident in our country”. For instance, she thinks the Ministry of Health should be modernized and strengthened, and that the social security system should improve accessibility, control, and monitoring of patients. As for legal abortion for anyone who wants it, she is against it, but she is for adoption for same-sex couples. Concerning cannabis, she supports its medical but not recreational use.
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