By The Star Staff
The Citizen Victory Movement (MVC by its Spanish initials) and the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) have appealed the court decision upholding a ban on electoral alliances through an intrajurisdictional certification request before the Supreme Court.
The appeal announced Tuesday allows the decision to be raised before the consideration of the top court with the possibility of it being reversed.
In May, the PIP and the MVC filed a lawsuit challenging the prohibition of electoral alliances in Puerto Rico.
“The PIP and the MVC appear before the Court to correct the statutory wrong that the Electoral Code has inflicted on Puerto Rican democracy,” attorney Carlos Gorrín Peralta said at a press conference at the time.
The prohibitions imposed in the Electoral Code “create a series of unconstitutional conditions that impose onerous burdens on the exercise of fundamental rights of political parties and their members,” the petitioners said.
The ban on electoral alliances in Puerto Rico has been in effect since 2011. According to the PIP and MVC, it limits the ability of political parties to form coalitions and field candidates representing a variety of viewpoints.
In the initial lawsuit filed in Superior Court, the parties allege that the ban violates various constitutional rights of political parties, their members and voters.
“The current ban unfairly limits the freedom of association of the Electoral Commissioner,” argued Yanira Reyes Gil, representing the MVC electoral commissioner.
For some time, the PIP and the MVC have been discussing joining forces and running together in the next election. Such political alliances are formed in many countries. However, the Electoral Code prohibits such political coalitions in Puerto Rico.