The Governor Pedro Pierluisi gave a boost to his designated Secretary of State, Larry Seilhamer, who has come under fire by his New Progressive co-religionists for finding that Puerto Rico is unable to reach a state as the fiscal crisis continues that is currently bankrupting the central government and some of its public companies keeps.
“What the Secretary of State has said to some extent is something that is falling out of the bush. Puerto Rico is in a bankruptcy process and it will be positive for all the ongoing issues on this island, including the status issue, that we get out of that bankruptcy. That’s why I like it Supervisory Board (Tax) submit a tenable (debt) adjustment plan, so that the court can make a decision. When that plan is filed and the court approves it, either in the way it is filed or in an amended form, that’s practically the end of Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy, “Pierluisi said.
Relevant figures from the New Progressive Party (PNP), like the mayor of Bayamón, Ramon Luis Rivera, Y Jose Aponte Hernandez Y Carlos “Johnny” Méndez, former presidents of the House of RepresentativesThey are among the statesmen who have criticized Seilhamer, who pointed out in a recent interview with El Nuevo Día that the United States would not take over “bankrupt” territory.
We recommend that you:
Some legislators, such as the Representative José “Quiquito” Meléndez, have made their vote for confirmation in favor of Seilhamer, who served as senator under La Palma between 2009 and 2020, conditional on his retraction of his rulings, on the premise that granting a state is a matter of “rights”.
“Our pursuit of equal rights as a state of the United States, that bankruptcy is of course an obstacle, but I am sure we will get out of it in the near future. The concern some may have that the status issue is being delayed is academic, it will become academic, ”said Pierluisi, emphasizing that a state cannot be legally mandated by the federal government to control its finances.
“Larry is a born statesman, he doesn’t have to prove that to anyone. He has always supported the state for Puerto Rico and the equal rights that state brings with it, ”added the governor.
The president, on the other hand, rejected that the legislative assembly have the “power” to block allocations of funds to cover the salaries of the six people lobbying for a state who will be elected in a special process passed by the then majority of the PNP in late December.
“Here, a few have to fall in time. Unfortunately, due to the bankruptcy of the Puerto Rico government, or bankruptcy, the Board of Commissioners is the one who has the final say in budget matters. They can make all the noise they want to make, but it doesn’t really matter, ”said the director.
Yesterday, in a pre-recorded video, the president of the Senate Jose Luis Dalmau, specified that the Legislative Assembly, controlled by the People’s Democratic Party, the allocations to the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration, where the funds for the six lobbyists would come from, the Law 167-2020
Dalmau and Rafael “Tatito” Hernández, President of Chamber, have argued that both Law 167 and Law 165-2020, which allows for a referendum ordered by the executive to ratify the result of the November plebiscite ‘statehood yes or no’, are unconstitutional, due to the powers away from the Legislature and hand it over to the Governor.