By The Star Staff
Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia urged Popular Democratic Party (PDP) President Jesús Manuel Ortiz González on Tuesday to finish presenting amendments to the Electoral Code.
“The next step is for the Popular Democratic Party to submit a proposal because no, we don’t even know what that party wants,” the governor said in response to questions from the press. “We already thought that the party had a proposal, which was the one that had been agreed on. It had been discussed at the level of the Legislative Assembly. They do not agree; they have created a committee there, [where] they have just agreed to be able to consider it.”
“You already know what the position of the NPP [New Progressive Party] is and it’s a matter of what you don’t know is where the Popular Democratic Party stands,” he added. “It has a new president, but so far nothing has come out.”
Asked how long he can wait for the PDP proposal, the governor replied: “Well, what happens is that time passes, it is pressing.”
“We already want to improve the code in the areas where we have consensus, but right now I cannot speak of a consensus when there is no clarity on the part of the Popular Democratic Party,” Pierluisi said. “Now they are talking about worrying about early voting, they are really talking about postal voting because here we do not see the rules of procedure have already been amended and there is no early vote in sight beyond what we have always had. He saved vote by mail, because voting by mail is a vote that is here to stay, that is a vote that is taking place at the level of the whole nation.”
On Monday, the PDP president said the areas they are interested in amending are those related to early voting, the selection of the president of the State Elections Commission and the way in which positions are established in the electoral entity.
Meanwhile, NPP House minority leader Carlos “Johnny” Méndez Nuñez said Tuesday that he is waiting for the PDP delegation in the lower chamber to approve the amendments to the Electoral Code.
Méndez added that those amendments were negotiated with House Speaker Rafael “Tatito” Hernández Montañez.
“We have spoken directly with the speaker of the House about the suggested amendments and reached a series of agreements, so … our delegation made a decision in the caucus that was held this morning to wait for the Popular Party delegation to approve the substitute for House Bill 114 and Senate Bill 909, which amends the current Electoral Code. We are ready to act,” Méndez said.
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