It was a long May Day in which the ruling National Liberation (PLN in Spanish) social democratic party asserted majority over the National Assembly, and the speech of President Laura Chinchilla earlier today was equally lengthy.

Over the course of an hour, our President seemed bolstered by the PLN victory over the National Assembly -although it is important to note that a power-sharing agreement is in place with the Accessibility Without Exclusions party (PASE), a tiny faction that focuses on the rights and interests of the 70,000 Ticos who live with disabilities. PASE’s ideology and legislators have been getting a lot of attention. There are similar political parties in other nations, such as Dignity for Disability in Australia, but PASE may be the most powerful party of its kind now.

These were the some of the important points in President Laura Chinchilla’s speech:

“In spite of an international climate which is still adverse, we have sustained growth”, indicated our President, citing last year’s 4 percent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth and the creation of 90,000 new jobs. She also mentioned a 12 percent increase in exports and 40 percent rise in foreign investments.

President Chinchilla then admitted that the fiscal crisis in her administration was overwhelming, but she pointed out the $6.4 billion investments in infrastructure projects which are either taking place now or will begin soon. Here she is referring to the recent announcement by the Ministry of Transportation (MOPT) of road construction that will take place soon and the new Port of Limon, already in progress. These projects came under criticism due to the heavy contracting activity they were subject to.

With regard to her administration’s social and welfare achievements, she mentioned the enforcement of minimum wages, subsidized care for children and the elderly, and the scholarships granted to students from low-income families as incentives to stay in school. She mentioned that at least 185,000 young students are enjoying such scholarships now.

In terms of public safety, our President mentioned that the number of households affected by crime had gone from 28 percent in 2008 to 20 percent in 2010, which is the year she took office.

President Chinchilla then turned to the legislature and asked that two proposals be given immediate attention: funding for public education, which this year will climb to 8 percent of the GDP, and for the public health care system (La Caja), for which expenditures will eat up 10 percent of the national budget.

It was essentially a “state of the nation” or midterm speech highlighting the work of her administration over the last two years.

National newspaper La Nacion pointed out that while President Chinchilla did not cite the sources of her figures, they were mostly in line with those reported by the Census authority (INEC) and the Central Bank; however, of the 90,000 new jobs cited, only 61,000 are contributing to La Caja. In this case, the minimum wage and payroll enforcement she mentioned could come into question.

La Nacion also pointed out that the amount of foreign investment, as reported by the Central Bank, was $2 billion -still a considerable figure.