The political career is a very competitive lifestyle, since each person tries to reach or occupy an important position. In this sense, the position of minister is a position with a lot of weight, since you will have at your disposal a department dedicated to the welfare of society in its area. So if you aspire to get to that place, you will first need to know the requirements to be a minister in Costa Rica.
Now, once you know what you need to be a minister, you may also be curious about the functions you have to fulfill or the ministries you have in the country; So, if you want answers to those questions, you should continue reading this article.
Requirements in Costa Rica
If you have or aspire to have a political career in Costa Rica, and you want to occupy the position of minister in a ministry in the country, you should know that there are four simple requirements that you must fulfill to be able to occupy this position.
- Be a practicing citizen.
- You must be Costa Rican by birth or naturalization, however, in this case you must have resided in the country for 10 years after having received your nationality.
- You have to be from the secular state. This refers to the fact that you belong to the Catholic Christian religion, but are not part of the clergy (bishops, nuns or priests).
- Be 25 years of age or older.
It should be noted that, even if you meet these general requirements and may be a candidate for minister, there will be other aspects that will also be taken into account when choosing a minister.
These aspects will be more inclined towards your performance in the area you are aiming for to be a minister or how has your political career been. That is, your skills to perform in the position.
Can you be a Minister and a Deputy simultaneously?
This question arose last year, when the deputy Víctor Morales rang to assume the position of Minister of the Presidency and people wondered if this was possible; And the answer is no. It is not possible to be a Minister and a Disputed at the same time, but somehow if you can have both positions and alternate them.
These charges can be toggled, if you do an operation of «table tennis», that is, jumping from one position to another depending on the situations and which one the person needs to be in.
Now how does this operation work? Well, once the dispute is made official to the position of Minister, it must ask for a leave without pay, to suspend his position as a deputy and assume his new position.
However, in this way there would be one less disputed in the Assembly, since, as the position is suspended, no one can occupy it, but it is not taken into account for voting either.
Therefore, if the Assembly will be made up of 30 deputies, and one of them is called to assume a post of Minister, the Assembly would be left with 29 deputies.
So, we already have the Ping, the disputed has already suspended his position and is serving as Minister; now, we are missing the Pong. So, if the Minister wanted to return to the functions of his position as a deputy, to participate in some important vote; this should ask the President for permission.
Once you ask the President for permission, the President must accept and issue a decree removing the Minister from office for as long as he needs it. Thus, the person may once again act as a deputy and participate in the votes of the Assembly.
Therefore, the positions of Deputy and Minister cannot be carried simultaneously, but alternately. Now this would be possible due to a method of «table tennis», in which the person would perform functions of the positions depending on what the situation warrants.
How is a Minister chosen in Costa Rica?
The ministers in Costa Rica are chosen by the person in charge of the Executive Power, that is, the President is the one who selects to the people who will occupy the positions of presidency of each ministry.
In this case, the process is very simple, the president must elect his ministers in the period between February (month the presidential elections are held and the president-elect is known) and the month of may (when it is the turn of the president-elect to assume office). In that period of months the ministers must be elected and appointed to their ministries.
Now, for people to be elected to this type of office, they must first meet the requirements to be a minister in Costa Rica, already explained.
- Be a practicing citizen.
- Be a Costa Rican by birth or by naturalization with 10 years of residence after having obtained nationality.
- Belonging to the secular state.
- Be 25 years of age or older.
What is a Minister?
Defining what a Minister is is very simple, since it is a person, usually dedicated to political life, who is given the opportunity to take charge of a ministry or department that belongs to the country’s cabinet.
In other words, ministers are the people in charge of ministries.
Now, in Costa Rica the ministries are dependent on the State and fully financed for the same, reason why, the ministry belongs to the cabinet of the government.
In that same sense, ministers are appointed by the president, so that these are under the same guidelines of the Executive.
On the other hand, the ministries are in charge of managing the aspects that may surround a country. Now, in the case of Costa Rica, these are its ministries:
- Ministry of the Presidency.
- External relationships.
- Agriculture and Livestock.
- Economy, Industry and Commerce.
- Science, Technology and Telecommunications.
- Foreign trade.
- Culture and Youth.
- Public education.
- Public security.
- Tax authorities.
- Government and Police.
- Environment and Energy.
- Public Works and Transportation.
- Public health.
- Work and Social Security.
- National Planning and Economic Policy.
- Housing and Human Settlements.
- Communication.
Functions of a Minister in Costa Rica
The functions of a minister vary according to the ministry in charge, since the actions to be carried out will be totally different from each other.
However, its general functions will be administer and manage that department for the good of society and the government of the day.
On the other hand, if you want to know the functions that each ministry carries out, and that therefore the ministers carry out, below we explain what each department does:
It functions as the link between the president and the other powers, in addition to civil society.
This ministry is in charge of the country’s relations with other nations.
It is responsible for ensuring the rights and duties of rural families and small and medium producers in the countryside. In addition, it is also in charge of managing the production systems.
This department fosters the social and economic development of the industrial, commercial and service sectors.
As its name indicates, this department is in charge of promoting innovation in the technology and telecommunications sectors.
It is in charge of designing and implementing the country’s foreign trade policies, in addition, it is also in charge of foreign investment planning.
It is the entity in charge of promoting and encouraging the participation of all classes in the cultural and artistic movements of the country.
It is in charge of developing and manage the policies of public education, so that it is a quality education.
It must preserve the public order of the country and national sovereignty.
It is in charge of the country’s fiscal policies and the administration of the country’s public resources.
In conclusion, being a minister is a position with many responsibilities, but to which you can choose if you meet the requirements to be a minister in Costa Rica, which are detailed in the country’s Constitution. In addition, it is a position that will depend a lot on your skills to perform it or the contacts you have to stand out.
Visit GESTIONALO.NET Costa Rica
Related articles that may interest you
How to recover Debit Card password: What is a Debit card, its advantages and disadvantages
What are the Conditions and Requirements for Donating Blood in Argentina
How to recover my Movistar Play account: How to recover Movistar Play username and password
Requirements for Icetex Credit: Documents, What it is and MORE