PDP names Carlos Vizcarrondo as presidential delegate to Ponce
By The Star Staff
Popular Democratic Party (PDP), Secretary General Luis Vega Ramos announced the appointment late Monday of former judge and former speaker of the House of Representatives Carlos Vizcarrondo Irizarry as the PDP presidential delegate in the municipality of Ponce, after an investigation carried out by the Special Independent Prosecutor Panel (PFEI by its Spanish initials) recommended that a special independent prosecutor (FEI) investigate Ponce Mayor Luis Irizarry Pabón.
“Today, the president (of the PDP) has proceeded to appoint former judge Carlos Vizcarrondo, a person of great prestige and respect, to supervise the entire reorganization process, as provided for in the PDP Rules of Procedure,” Vega Ramos said in a written statement. “We took this decision as a measure to ensure the continuation of the political and electoral work of the PDP in Ponce, while the mayor attends to the referral of the FEI Office.”
With the appointment, the presidential delegate will assume the responsibility of directing and supervising the completion of the process of reorganization of all electoral units and of configuring the new members of the PDP Municipal Committee in Ponce.
Vega Ramos noted that Vizcarrondo will report directly to the PDP Committee at the central level. The appointment is effective immediately.
The move came after the Ponce mayor was referred to the PFEI, following a recommendation from the Department of Justice, which alleged in its preliminary investigation that the evidence collected showed that the mayor of Ponce, through intimidation, managed to get his subordinates to provide economic contributions and make economic contributions for the payment of a personal loan, the purpose of which was to partially cover the expenses of Irizarry Pabón’s political campaign.
Also according to the Justice Department’s preliminary investigation, the evidence established among other things that, prior to assuming the position of mayor of Ponce, Irizarry Pabón received illegal donations that he did not report in the quarterly reports he presented to the Office of the Elections Comptroller of Puerto Rico.