The Costa Rican executive branch will put forward its competition authority’s commissioner candidates list to the National Assembly on 10 June, the country’s presidency said in a statement.

An ad hoc committee (Comisión Evaluadora) received 39 applications for two permanent Coprocom’s commissioners, and two for stand-in commissioners, the statement sent to this news service said. The committee performed a written test and interviewed the applicants between 28 and 29 May, the statement added.

Costa Rica’s presidency has scheduled for its 10 June government council (Consejo de Gobierno) meeting, a point of agreement (punto de acuerdo) to review a report submitted by the committee with candidate recommendations. The council will choose appointees and will send the list to the National Assembly for their confirmation, the statement said.

The National Assembly will have a 30-day term to confirm or object to these names, according to the selection process’ technical guidelines. If a candidate is rejected by the assembly, the next best name will be submitted as a replacement, the regulatory document said.

Road to the seat

The process was initiated with an open call through the Costa Rican presidency’s social media accounts, as requested by the guidelines.

The committee reviewed the information submitted by applicants during May, the regulatory item said. The applicants were interviewed by an advisory body and solved a test about competition economics and law issues, the guidelines added.

The ad hoc committee will submit to the government council a report with a list of two candidates for each vacant seat, the guidelines said. The government council will choose definitive candidates, and the list will be submitted to the National Assembly for their legislative confirmation later, the regulatory item added.

As the President’s Laura Fernández party PPS (Partido Pueblo Soberano) holds a majority in the National Assembly, the commissioners appointed by the Government Council are expected to be approved, a sector source told this news service.

The competition authority halted merger rulings since March, as Coprocom’s three-member governing body was left without a quorum to rule on issues like merger review procedures since December.