General Elections in Puerto Rico on November 5, Independence Party Could Win
Photograph of October 22, 2024 of election posters of the candidates of the Puerto Rican Independence Party Alliance with the Citizen Victory Movement, to the governorate, Juan Dalmau (c); to the mayor of San Juan, Manuel Natal (i), and to resident commissioner, Ana Irma Rivera Lassén , hanging on the facade of a house in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Photo: EFE/ Marina Villén
November 3, 2024 Hour: 6:14 pm
Puerto Rico’s general election will be held on November 5, 2024, to elect the governor, resident commissioner, members of the Senate, the House of Representatives and mayors of all 78 municipalities for the 2025-2029 term.
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The two parties that have dominated Puerto Rican politics for decades, the New Progressive Party (PNP) and the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) are losing their influence as the independence fighter Juan Dalmau runs for the alliance of the Puerto Rican Independence Party and the Citizen Victory Movement.
An international Gaither survey this month shows Dalmau approaching NPP and current resident commissioner for Puerto Rico in the US House of Representatives, Jenniffer Gonzalez, and defeated the current governor Pedro Pierluisi in his party’s primary election in June.
Dalmau is a recognized leader and defender of the ideal of independence of Puerto Rico, which after being a Spanish colony in 1898 came under the rule of the USA, a country that is now a Commonwealth.
The Gaither poll shows Dalmau with 29% support compared to González’s 31%, who led with 43% in July. Jesús Manuel Ortiz from the Popular Democratic Party is in third place, followed by Javier Jiménez from the Dignity Project.
Puerto Rico’s politics turns around the status of the island, and until 2016, the New Progressive Party, which supports statehood, and the Popular Democratic Party, which supports the status quo, shared at least 90% of all votes during the general election.
In addition due to frequent power cuts caused by decades of mismanagement and corruption and the devastating passage of hurricane Maria in 2017, traditional parties have weakened , with Dalmau promising to expel companies in an “organized” way In six months if he becomes governor, Ortiz said he will cancel the contract of one, and Gonzalez has asked for the creation of a “power zar” to review possible contractual breaches of Luma while finding another operator.
Candidates are also under pressure to create affordable housing, reduce energy bills and the overall cost of living, reduce violent crime, boost Puerto Rico’s economy, which is blocked from capital markets since 2015, and improve a deteriorating health system as thousands of doctors migrate to the mainland of the United States.
Autor: ACJ
Fuente: AP // EFE
