Governor dismisses discussion on creating lieutenant governor post
By The Star Staff
Gov. Jenniffer González Colón said Tuesday that she does not favor an amendment to the island Constitution to create the position of lieutenant governor.
“In the Constituent Assembly, it was said no, because it was an expense and did not have functions inherent to the position,” the governor said at a press conference. “Furthermore, this is a non-programmatic issue. This was not promised to the people of Puerto Rico in the last election. This was not part of the platform that the NPP [New Progressive Party] offered to the people of Puerto Rico. No, I do not agree, just as I did not in the past when I was in the Legislature.”
Popular Democratic Party Rep. José “Conny” Varela Fernandez and NPP Rep. José “Pichy” Torres Zamora filed a legislative measure to create the position of lieutenant governor in Puerto Rico, elected by direct popular vote.
If the concurrent resolution is approved, the question of whether a lieutenant governor should be elected would be submitted to the voters in a referendum. The lieutenant governor would have to be a member of the same party as the governor. In the case of independent candidates for governor, the candidate would also have to name a running mate for the vice governor post.
“After the crisis we faced in 2019, when Governor Ricardo Rosselló resigned and there was no Senate-confirmed secretary of state, the need to ensure that the succession to the governorship would be a swift and smooth process became clear,” said Varela, who served as vice speaker of the House of Representatives during the previous four-year term. “Our experience during the summer of 2019 was that, when the secretary of Justice, who had not been vetted by voters or elected to any position, became governor, we saw the need to ensure that whoever occupies the governorship would be vetted by voters and committed to the platform of the party that elected them.”
Torres Zamora, the current NPP majority leader in the House, stated that he was “convinced that the creation of the position of elected lieutenant governor alongside the position of governor is necessary to adapt the Constitution to the times we live in.”
The proposed amendment would assign the elected lieutenant governor the leadership of the Department of State, along with all the powers and duties it exercises, as well as any other duties.
