By The Star Staff
Some 26 senators and 53 representatives were sworn in Thursday to their elective seats to form Puerto Rico’s 20th Legislative Assembly.
However, four minority and write-in lawmakers, including activist Eliezer Molina Pérez, could not be sworn in because they had yet to be certified by the State Elections Commission (SEC). Molina Pérez said such situations underscore the importance of having an independent governor in Puerto Rico. Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz spoke about the reasons that prevented the swearing-in of Molina Pérez, who won a seat in the upper chamber as a write-in candidate. He noted Molina Pérez’s having not yet been certified by the SEC.
“He [Molina Pérez] has to submit a doping test that the Commission does not do,” Rivera Schatz in an aside. “The State Elections Commission gives him the order to go to the laboratory and the laboratory sends it directly to the Commission.”
Molina Pérez obtained more than 71,000 votes and will occupy the number 11 position in the Senate, leaving out incumbent candidate Keren Riquelme Cabrera.
“In addition, there is a court challenge to his seat,” Rivera Schatz added. “Keren Riquelme and Leyda Cruz have a claim and we will see what happens. The NPP [New Progressive Party Electoral] commissioner [Aníbal Vega Borges] had said he would also file a court challenge. I don’t know if he did it, but I do know that Senator Keren Riquelme will carry out the challenge.”
Rivera Schatz said the Electoral Law and the Political Code establish that only SEC-certified candidates can be sworn in.
In the Senate chamber, there were two empty seats, corresponding to the at-large senators Molina Pérez and Adrián González Costa, an incoming senator from the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP) who obtained a seat in the upper chamber because of the Minority Law.
In the House of Representatives, Nelie Lebrón Robles, an elected at-large representative from the PIP, and Adriana Gutiérrez Colón, also of the PIP, were not sworn in either.
González Costa, however, was able to enter the chamber as a guest of PIP Sen. María de Lourdes Santiago Negrón, the incoming legislator said.
The SEC announced that as soon as Molina Pérez and other minority lawmakers are certified, they will be sworn in.
Rivera Schatz announced that he will introduce 100 bills in a wide range of areas, aimed mainly at strengthening the social and economic development of Puerto Rico.
“These measures represent the beginning of a process that seeks to effectively and sustainably transform the lives of our citizens,” Rivera Schatz said. “They respond to the needs of our people. The well-being of our people is the priority of this Senate, and we will work hand in hand with the community so that all sectors benefit equally.”
In the swearing-in ceremony in the lower chamber, House Speaker Carlos “Johnny” Méndez Nuñez said the new House of Representatives will commit Puerto Rico to urgently addressing the energy issue, to reducing the tax burden of residents as well as of small and medium-sized businesses on the island, and to reforming the permit system, among other initiatives that directly impact the people.
“We will have a direct and constant dialogue with the minority parties, because many of these pieces of legislation can be approved in conjunction with the other parties,” Méndez said. “We are going to work together for the Puerto Rico that we all want.”