JUSIPER

 
Governor of Puerto Rico indicted

Posted by Sini

Developing...

Update #1: From Reuters:

Puerto Rican Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila and 12 associates in Washington and Pennsylvania were charged with election fraud in an indictment unsealed Thursday.

The federal charges are related to campaign financing for the U.S. Caribbean territory's 1999-2000 gubernatorial election, its 2001-2 campaign for resident commissioner of the commonwealth, and its 2004 gubernatorial campaign.

Charges in the 27-count indictment include conspiracy, making false statements, wire fraud, federal program fraud and tax crimes, U.S. prosecutors said in a news release.

Early political fallout: Obama has lost his primary institutional support. On the other hand, as I have written earlier, Acevedo Vilá is the least popular governor in modern memory. If he resigns and is replaced with someone even halfway popular (who is also an Obama supporter, not a given), Obama could actually benefit. Indeed, the worst possible outcome right now would be for Acevedo Vilá to remain in office until the June 1st primary.

Acevedo Vilá's removal office is also a disaster for the PNP. Fortuño's only real campaign theme was change. A new governor, especially one with few ties to Acevedo Vilá, would represent change as well.

UPDATE#2: Section 7 of the Puerto Rican constitution:

Cuando ocurra una vacante en el cargo de Gobernador producida por muerte, renuncia, destitución, incapacidad total y permanente, o por cualquier otra falta absoluta, dicho cargo pasará al Secretario de Estado, quien lo desempeñará por el resto del término y hasta que un nuevo Gobernador sea electo y tome posesión. La ley dispondrá cuál de los Secretarios de Gobierno ocupará el cargo de Gobernador en caso de que simultáneamente quedaren vacantes los cargos de Gobernador y de Secretario de Estado.

If Acevedo Vilá resigns--and no one seems to know for sure yet if he will--the new governor will be a relative political unknown, Secretary of State Fernando Bonilla. Since he is unlikely to be the party's standard bearer, the real question now is who will lead the party in November elections. The PPD's candidate for resident commissioner, Alfredo Salazar, is one possibility. He is fresh off a primary victory and has already endorsed Obama. His economic credentials make him a nightmare for the PNP.

8:14 AM |