Deténganse ya los personalismos, las ofensas e insultos en la primaria PNP – Por Dr. José Saldaña

May 8, 2024

Stop the personalisms, offenses and insults in the PNP primary.

In a column I wrote on September 23, 2023, I began by pointing out that apparently the PNP seems to be looking for a way to lose the next elections.

I pointed out in that column that primaries are a legitimate mechanism within our system of liberal democracy to select candidates to govern us when there is no clear consensus on who should be the candidate for the political position in question. I pointed out that if a primary was held between Pierluisi and Jennifer, it had to be a high-profile one, where the ideas of both are expressed with respect, where the insults and attacks typical of these processes do not occur. We cannot run the risk of a progressive Novo division making it easier for a sector of our voters to stay home or vote to punish the winner.

I also pointed out that the Novo progressives should not think that because the PPD is in conditions of internal crisis with whoever the winner of the primary is, there would be an easy victory. For some time now I have been insisting that the electoral contest will be between the PNP and a mob made up of all the autonomists, separatists, socialists, communists and dissatisfied ones. With possible candidacies of young, well-articulated and good-looking people who can attract the young vote. That young vote that remains silent but has expressed its displeasure with politicians and traditional parties on many occasions and is preparing to cast a punitive vote. 

I reminded them that apparently the PNP did not remember that after a damaging primary between Wanda Vázquez and Pedro Pierluisi in August 2020, three months later, in November, our people schizophrenically voted majority and clearly for Yes in the plebiscite consultation (52%- 48%) that is, for annexation to the nation, but timidly – an advantage of just over 1% – voted for the leader of the executive, Governor Pierluisi, who is responsible, together with the Resident Commissioner, for achieving that mandate by the IF it is put on the agenda and executed by Congress. In that sense, the people got out of hand and for trying to punish the legislature they gave Pedro Pierluisi a timid vote as governor. The result was unnecessarily shared power.

Both main parties PNP and PPD, from one four-year period to the next, suffered a considerable decline in their forces. In 2016, Governor Ricardo Rosselló was elected with 660,510 votes for 41.8% of the votes cast and the defeated PPD candidate David Bernier obtained 614,190 votes for 38.8% of the votes cast. In the 2020 elections, these percentages were 33% and 31% of the total number of voters respectively. This current decline in the case of the PNP appears to have been due to the fact that many of its voters stayed at home in protest against the four years of erratic governance while others apparently moved towards Dignity of Dr. Cesar Vázquez. In the case of the PPD, many of its voters – melons, sovereignists – moved towards Victoria Ciudadana, which increased from 11.1% to 14% and towards the PIP, which increased from 2.1% to 14%.

Today, eight months later and about 25 days after the internal primaries, the PNP is carrying out a harmful contentious primary, full of recriminations, personalisms and unnecessary offenses. If this situation continues, we will inevitably go to a possible pyrrhic victory where perhaps the governorship will be won, but the House and Senate will go to the hands of the mob. This would be a disgrace since a difficult four-year period awaits us in which to do the necessary work a clear mandate is needed. We cannot afford to repeat the current four-year period.

It is time for both candidates to urgently sit down with their campaign directors to talk face to face to send the correct message in the remainder of this primary. Here people are not the most important thing. What is at stake is the most important thing…good government and statehood.

You are absolutely right BUT since what you are looking for is contracts and $$, the candidates are going to follow. If PP wins, Domenech and Angel Cintrón will lose all influence in their government. It is what it is.

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JOHN E. MUDD

LAW OFFICES OF JOHN E. MUDD

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