Since releasing the media reform draft bill, MICITT Ministers Allan Ruiz and Gisella Kooper have been under a lot of ridicule. It was uncovered that they copied exact parts of other countries laws that are currently in force. Regulations in Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia, Mexico and Spain are apparent throughout several articles of the bill.
According to the Panamapost, the National Chamber of Radio and Television of Costa Rica (CANARTEL) made a forum comparing the laws enforced in those countries and the bill. For example researchers from the forum give an example that the proposals that demand that 30 percent of radio frequencies are handed over to local radio stations are an exact copy of Article 22 of a recent media law in Peru. Lawyer for that CANARTEL responded by saying ...
“We can’t accept the government bill, not even as a document to provide a basis for discussion, because the textual copy of laws from other countries is evident, and it doesn’t reflect the reality of the country,”
They both have took full responsibility for their actions.Their task was to establish what information is false what what falls out the parameters of good taste. They both failed to oversee what information was going in the new law.The Vice President Allan Ruiz admitted to not having read over the bill.
Costa Rica's President Luis Guillermo Solis asked both Ruiz and Kopper to step down, on the grounds of “failing at the hour of supervising the elaboration and content”. In an article from Tico Times, Solis says...
“Today and always, we are going to defend freedom of expression and press freedom because they are fundamental principles of a democracy that is an example to Latin America and the world. We are not going to permit anyone to tarnish these principles.”
President Gisella Kopper has resigned, she says that the document was a "big human error" and wanted to improve the text before taking to the legislative process. According to an article in La Nacion, Kopper says she stepped down because she has "lost confidence" in Allan Ruiz her VP. He has refused to step down with nothing to confess. In an interview with La Nacion, he states The objective of this law isn’t to promote anything in this sense [of controlling content] but to ensure that media outlets don’t make an inefficient use of the radio spectrum..Everything that has to do with content won’t be in the final version."
The Vice President Allan Ruiz plans to take several weeks to prepare the bill, it will be presented in June for revision prior to presenting it to congress. Hopefully with a stronger replacement for the former President Gisella Kopper, he could learn from him mistakes and prepare a bill that suits his country and it's people.