Would-be Puerto Rican governor faces stiff resistance from island’s legislature

The doubts surrounding who will end up leading this island of 3.2 million people only seemed to increase Friday, as the man tapped to replace outgoing Gov. Ricardo Rosselló faced stiff resistance from a skeptical legislature.

With just hours to go before Rosselló was scheduled to step down at 5 p.m., members of Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives said they were reluctant to approve Pedro Pierluisi as the secretary of state — and therefore the next in line to be governor.

Carlos “Johnny” Méndez, the speaker of the House, said it was unfair to the legislature and the Puerto Rican people to rush through Pierluisi’s nomination.

“There are still too many questions,” he told reporters as he left a House hearing to decide whether to confirm Pierluisi’s nomination. Méndez said he would not vote to approve.

In particular, Méndez said he and his colleagues had been under the impression that in his role as a lawyer, Pierluisi had tried to stop an investigation into a development project planned for the former Roosevelt Roads naval base.

Representatives also questioned that Pierluisi’s law firm had provided counsel to the Fiscal Oversight Board, the federal body that controls the island’s shattered finances. Méndez said the creation of that board under the 2016 PROMESA law was the maximum expression of “Puerto Rico’s colonial status.”

Pierluisi pushed back, saying his legal work for the oversight board, known in Puerto Rico as the junta, could be an asset to the territory.

“I understand the PROMESA law inside and out, I understand its reach, and how to take advantage of its benefits and how to fight its excesses,” he told the congressional committee. “Who better than me to represent our people before the junta? Who better than me to start the process so that the junta leaves? That’s what we all want. My past representing the Fiscal Oversight Board does not represent a conflict of interest in this new position.”

Under Puerto Rican law, Pierluisi needs the approval of Puerto Rico’s House and Senate in order to assume the role of secretary of state. On Thursday, however, the Senate said it wouldn’t hold a hearing on the issue until Monday. In addition, Senate President Thomas Rivera Shatz has also said he will oppose Pierluisi’s nomination.

That could mean that the person who is second in line of succession, Justice Secretary Wanda Vázquez, might be forced to replace Rosselló when he steps down. Vázquez has said she doesn’t want the job but that it’s her constitutional duty to assume the role.

Pierluisi also introduced new doubts into the succession question. Asked if he would swear in as governor at 5 p.m. — even without legislative approval — he was non committal.

“The country will find out at the given time,” he said, adding that it was still an open “legal question.”

The leadership crisis comes after Rosselló was forced to resign amid widespread protests that erupted after the leak of vulgar chats among him and some of his closest advisers.

It also comes on the heels of corruption investigations that have led to the arrest of Rosselló’s former education and health secretaries.

Asked about the corruption scandals, Pierluisi said the country had changed over the last two weeks and that he would take extraordinary steps to regain the public’s trust, including asking his family and associates to refrain from competing for government contracts during his term.

“Things not only have to be legal, they have to be moral, they have to be ethical,” he said. “If not, we will lose the trust of the people once again.”

Analysts have suggested that Rosselló might delay his resignation by a few days to allow Pierluisi to be confirmed. But it’s still far from clear who will be leading the country by the end of Friday.

This story is developing and will be updated.

This story was originally published August 2, 2019 at 12:37 PM.