Resident commissioner proposes ‘tools’ to put an end to the ‘clique’ in gov’t

Resident Commissioner Pablo José Hernández Rivera (Facebook via Pablo José Hernández Rivera)

By THE STAR STAFF

Resident Commissioner Pablo José Hernández Rivera delivered a speech in Barranquitas on Sunday during the commemoration of Luis Muñoz Rivera’s birth, addressing the issue of the “clique” (“la claque”) and how, in his view, it can be combated.

“First, that the people be able to remove the governor before their term ends. The tool for this would be a recall referendum, as exists in 20 states,” Hernández Rivera said. “Second, that we vote by order of preference, as is already done in 49 jurisdictions in the United States; or that a runoff election between the two top candidates be required, as is already done in 13 states. And third, that the people be able to submit and vote on legislation or constitutional amendments via petitions and referendums, as is already done in 26 states.”

“These proposals are a starting point,” he added. “They may all require amending the Constitution. Undoubtedly, the details of each will require debate and deliberation.”

Hernández Rivera gave examples of what he considers to represent the aforementioned “clique.”

“In 2026, we are not afraid to say that there is a clique that transcends party lines and serves to support and shield the actions of a government that is failing the people,” the resident commissioner said. “We have to call things what they are: there are people in the government who buy, and there are people in Puerto Rico who sell themselves, and we cannot let that behavior become normalized.”

Among those included in “the clique,” ​​he mentioned the politician who uses the budget and staff assignments to buy silence; the one who stays quiet and fails to provide oversight to avoid having their budget cut or staff assignments revoked; the Senate leader who cries foul when staff assignments are taken away -- accusing the government of petty politics and retaliation -- yet shuts the resident commissioner out of his office on a whim; the analyst on the government payroll; the analyst not on the payroll who attacks the government hoping to be called in and offered something in exchange for silence; the secretary of state who boasts of being able to kill negative press stories; and the media figure who allows that kind of pressure and interference.

“Those are the ones you’ve seen, because they are out there and everyone knows them,” Hernández Rivera said. “But there are others visible only from the inside. Friends who stop being friends because they don’t get an unearned benefit. Strangers who want to befriend you when a good poll comes out. Donors who think they own your conscience. Everyone in this clique is a minority. But it is a troublesome minority that -- when well-positioned, as it is now -- can cause a great deal of damage.”

The resident commissioner also reiterated his call for Gov. Jenniffer González Colón to dismiss embattled La Fortaleza Chief of Staff Francisco Domenech Fernández, who has been included in an expanding inquiry by the Panel on the Special Independent Prosecutor into allegations of political pressure being applied inside the Office of Permit Management.