By The Star Staff
Rep. José Aponte Hernández on Thursday welcomed the island Supreme Court’s decision to dismiss the Puerto Rican Independence Party’s (PIP) legal appeal that sought to halt the holding of a status consultation on Nov. 5, the day of the general elections.
“We definitely welcome the Supreme Court’s decision to put an end to a political attempt by the candidate for governor of the pro-independence party, Juan Dalmau, who did not want a status consultation so as not to have to publicly defend independence,” Aponte said. “Now he will have to take a position.”
On Wednesday, the highest judicial forum in Puerto Rico issued an opinion stating that “having considered all the matters presented and for everything discussed in the Opinion above, it is ruled that there is no grounds for the Complaint filed by the petitioner, and the constitutionality of Law No. 165-2020, known as the Law to Implement the Petition for Statehood in the 2020 Plebiscite, is upheld.”
“The PIP has supported these types of consultations before, both at the state and federal level in the case of congressional initiatives,” the former speaker of the island House of Representatives said. “The PIP leadership, including Dalmau, publicly supported HR 8393, now HR 2757, a bipartisan measure that sought to hold a congressionally endorsed consultation between the decolonizing options of statehood, direct independence, and independence through free association. The same is on the ballot for the November 5th consultation. The only reason Dalmau opposes it is so he doesn’t [have to] go out in public talking about independence.”
The veteran New Progressive Party (NPP) lawmaker added that it is time to “redouble our efforts to promote mass participation in the status consultation and vote for the only option that guarantees American citizenship, permanent union with our nation, the United States.”
The previous day, Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón, the NPP president and candidate for governor, celebrated the triumph of the party after the high court’s decision to dismiss the PIP’s petition.
“The Supreme Court’s decision to validate the holding of the plebiscite puts a stop to the Independence Party and the left that wanted to usurp the right to freedom of expression and the power to choose our political future at the polls as is done in democracies,” González Colón said on her social networks. “Enough of the political parties that want to impose immobility and censor our freedom to vote; this November 5th let us all vote to defend our democratic rights, for our freedoms, for American citizenship, for permanent union, let us vote for Equality, ‘For Statehood for Puerto Rico!’”
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