That the campaign season has hit Costa Rica with full force became apparent Wednesday, when President Oscar Arias' cabinet members used the better part of their weekly press conference to deflect criticism from the opposing party.

Arias is not running for re-election, but rival group the Citizen Action Party (PAC) is using him as a primary target in its campaign; accusing him of failed social programs and a souring economy.

“Education has been abandoned (and) the Costa Rican Social Security System has collapsed,” said PAC presidential candidate Ottón Solís at the presentation of his government plan at the Holiday Inn this week, according to the financial weekly El Financiero.

Roberto Gallardo, planning minister, arrived Wednesday at Casa Presidencial armed with a laptop full of spreadsheets to defend the administration against Solís' shots.

Deflecting anticipated criticism for using time with the press for campaign issues, Minister of the Presidency Rodrigo Arias said, “The government has a right to defend itself. (PAC) said things that weren't true.”

Solís, who lost to Arias in the 2006 elections by a mere 2 percent of the vote, remains 30 points behind leading candidate Laura Chinchilla in the polls with less than three months to go on the campaign trail.

Many political analysts consider that a Chinchilla presidency, who served as vice president under Oscar Arias, will in many ways represent a continuation of Arias' government.